Germany's 7-day COVID incidence hits 80 again

The COVID-19 incidence rate in Germany has climbed to 80.2 per 100,000 people in the past seven days, up from 70.3 a week ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Friday.

Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany also continued to rise as 14,251 new cases were registered in one day, 2,222 more than a week ago, according to RKI.

Meanwhile, German Minister of Health Jens Spahn has confirmed government plans to allow employers in nursing homes or daycare centers to ask for employees' vaccination status. "How are you going to explain to a relative that their mother died of COVID-19 because the caregiver was not vaccinated?" he told Spiegel magazine on Friday.

As of Friday, almost 50.8 million people in Germany have been fully vaccinated, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 61.0 per cent, according to the RKI. Almost 55 million people have received at least one vaccine dose.

Spahn also emphasized that "there will be no further restrictions for vaccinated and recovered people," adding that he believed mRNA vaccines will also "work well" against new mutations of the coronavirus. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )