Germany's Covid-19 incidence doubles within two weeks

Berlin, July 21 Germany's seven-day incidence of Covid-19 infections per 100,000 inhabitants has more than doubled within the past two weeks, the Robert Koch Institut (RKI) said on Tuesday.

Since July 6, the seven-day incidence in Germany rose from 4.9 to 10.9, according to the RKI, the federal government agency for disease control and prevention, the Xinhua news agency reported.

After the catastrophic floods in parts of Germany, the governments of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate fear that housing many people in emergency shelters would further increase the number of Covid-19 infections.

In the flood disaster, the first priority was to help those affected as quickly as possible, local health authorities told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), but an increased risk of spreading Covid-19 could evolve "in particular if people are housed in emergency shelters."

Many people lost everything and were "thinking about everything but the mask right now," David Freichel of the local Covid-19 task force told RND. "We now have to be careful that the management of the disaster does not become a super spreader event."

Daily Covid-19 infections in Germany increased as 1,183 cases were newly registered on Tuesday, 537 more than one week ago and 743 more than two weeks ago, according to the RKI.

To date, more than 3.74 million Covid-19 infections have been officially registered in Germany since the outbreak of the pandemic. The death toll climbed to 91,397 on Tuesday, according to the RKI.