German New Virus Cases, Deaths Decline for Second Day

(Bloomberg) --

Germany’s new coronavirus cases and fatalities declined for the second day, and the country’s infection rate held below the key threshold of 1.0.

• There were 548 new cases in the 24 hours through Friday morning, bringing the total to 179,021, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s down from 695 on Thursday
• Fatalities increased by 59, a smaller gain than Thursday’s of 63, to 8,203
• The reproduction factor of the virus, known as R-naught, rose to 0.89 on Thursday from 0.88 the previous day, according to the latest estimate from the Robert Koch Institute
• The RKI also provides a 7-day R-value, which compensates for fluctuations. That value rose to 0.92% on Thursday, up from 0.87% the previous day
• The R-0 figure reflects the number of additional cases generated by one infected person. Authorities consider it important to keep the number below 1.0 to prevent exponential growth that could overwhelm the health system

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.