Germany: Germany
reported a record 112,323 new corona virus cases on Wednesday, after the health
minister said the peak had not been reached yet and compulsory vaccination
should be introduced by May.
Germany also recorded 239
deaths in the space of 24 hours, for a cumulative total of 116,081, the Robert
Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious disease said.
Despite the new record, Germany's association for intensive
care medicine (DIVI) said the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care
units was falling.But the health ministry said the surge in infections was
worrying and could burden hospitals in the medium term.
The highly infectious Omicron variant has pushed Germany's
seven-day average to 584.4 cases per 100,000 people. Health Minister Karl
Lauterbach told the broadcaster RTL late on Tuesday: "I think we will
reach the peak of the wave in mid-February, and then the number of cases could
fall again."
Lauterbach said he believed there could be twice as many
unreported cases as known ones.
The
minister said a vaccine mandate should be introduced quickly, in April or May,
to prevent another wave of infections with possible new variants late in the
year.
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