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Coronavirus in Germany: “the restrictive measures will be with us for a long time.” Almost 22,000 new infections in 24 hours

12 Novermber 2020 – “The curve is flattening,” said Lothar Wieler, director of the Robert Koch Institute for Public Health Surveillance – RKI, on Thursday, but said the restrictive measures “will be with us for a long time.”

At a news conference, Wieler welcomed the “first signs” of improving the curve for new coronavirus infections and stressed that restrictive measures, such as closing bars and restaurants, wearing a mask or strict restrictions on private meetings, “show that we are not powerless ”in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic.

“The situation remains very serious”

However, the situation remains “very serious”, with almost 22,000 new cases officially registered in the last 24 hours, warned the director of RKI. “We need to prevent the situation from deteriorating (…) Our goal is to bring infections back to a level that our health care system can cope with,” he added.

The RKI director recalled the rules to follow, from hand washing to regular room ventilation, including contact reduction and quarantine at the slightest symptom. “These measures will accompany us for a long time, even if we have a vaccine,” he warned.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders will discuss on Monday the effects of the restrictions introduced earlier this month and decide on possible additional restrictive measures.

Germany reported 21,866 new SARS-CoV-2 infections in 24 hours on Thursday, bringing the total to 727,553 since the beginning of the pandemic. The death toll rose by 215 in the last day to a total of 11,982.