Health authorities in Germany recorded 13.435 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday morning - an increase of almost 50 percent compared to last week. The nationwide incidence rate has risen once again, to the highest level since early February. 

13.435 new coronavirus cases within 24 hours

13.435 new coronavirus infections were reported to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning - significantly more than the 9.146 new cases recorded exactly a week ago and the second-highest number of daily infections since the beginning of February. 

The RKI’s latest figures therefore show that the number of new infections reported within seven days per 100.000 inhabitants (the nationwide seven-day incidence rate) has risen significantly once again. According to the RKI, it was 86,2 on Wednesday morning, up from 83,7 the previous day. That’s the highest value recorded since February 3, when it dropped to 82,9. 

The rate had been falling continuously since mid-January (the peak of 197,1 was reached on December 21), but has stagnated in recent weeks before beginning to rise rapidly once again. Experts are warning that coronavirus infections in Germany are now growing exponentially. 

Germany could reach Christmas infection levels by Easter

On Tuesday, the prominent virologist Christian Drosten warned that Germany’s coronavirus rates look to be heading back to the record levels seen over the Christmas holidays, with the highly-contagious B.1.1.7 variant - which is now present in around three-quarters of cases in the federal republic - making infections “drastically more difficult” to contain.

“We will have a situation shortly after Easter like around Christmas,” he said on Tuesday in the latest episode of his podcast “Coronavirus Update”. 

The country’s worsening coronavirus situation has already prompted speculation that the government might be forced to abandon its next planned round of relaxations - the reopening of outdoor dining areas, theatres, concert halls, opera houses and cinemas - at the next coronavirus summit on March 22. The state of Berlin has already announced that no further steps towards reopening will be taken at the moment.