77% Germans fear 2nd COVID-19 wave in near future

Berlin, Aug 1 Seventy-seven per cent German citizens fear that a second COVID-19 wave would occur in the near future, according to a new survey.

The Politbarometer survey published by the German public broadcaster ZDF on Friday said that 45 per cent of respondents believed that people in the country "behave rather reasonably" during the COVID-19 crisis, reports Xinhua news agency.

However, 51 per cent said the general behavior of the country's population is not reasonable.

According to the survey, 94 per cent of Germans were in favour of mandatory COVID-19 tests for travellers from risk areas.

Mandatory tests at airports as well as key train stations had been suggested by a number of German politic after the number of cases had started increasing again.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Germany increased by 870 within one day to 208,698 Friday, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The deaths increased by seven to 9,141.

Last week, the RKI had warned that the number of new daily cases in the country was "significantly higher than in the previous weeks" when only 300 to 500 new daily cases were recorded.

Health Minister Jens Spahn had announced earlier this week that people returning from risk areas would have to get a COVID-19 test upon their arrival and the test would be free of charge.

The regulation is planned to come into force next week.

( With inputs from IANS )