The nationwide seven-day incidence has once again risen to an all-time high. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week on Sunday morning at 372.7. For comparison: the previous day, the value had been 362.2, and a week ago 289 (previous month: 85.6). Health offices in Germany reported 42,727 new Corona infections to the RKI within one day - 28 percent more than a week ago.

According to the new data, 75 deaths were recorded throughout Germany within 24 hours. A week ago, there had been 55 deaths. The RKI counted 5,354,942 confirmed infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the start of the pandemic, but the actual total is likely to be significantly higher because many infections go undetected.The number of Corona patients admitted to hospitals per 100,000 population within seven days was given by the RKI on Friday as 5.34 (Thursday: 5.30). The indicator must take into account that hospital admissions are sometimes reported with delay. The previous maximum value was around 15.5 around Christmas time.

There continue to be large regional differences in the incidence of infection. In eighteen counties, the seven-day incidence was above 1,000. Sixteen counties recorded an incidence value of less than 100. In Saxony, the incidence is now well above 800. The RKI specifically reported a value of 862.1 on Sunday. On Saturday, the incidence - the number of new infections reported per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days - was still 793.7. The Free State thus remains a nationwide Corona hotspot ahead of Bavaria (639.4) and Thuringia (628).

Five counties in Saxony are above an incidence value of 1000. The county of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge is still the most affected with an incidence of 1618.6. This is followed by the districts of Bautzen (1336.2), Meißen (1201.9), Nordsachsen (1195.3) and Erzgebirgskreis (1103.6). The lowest incidence was again reported by the RKI for the state capital Dresden (448.4).

The RKI reported the number of people recovered nationwide at 4,626,300. The number of people who died from or with the involvement of confirmed infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 99,062.Meanwhile, acting German Health Minister Jens Spahn defended the much-criticized limit on order quantities for BioNTech's Corona vaccine. "I know that this short-term change means a lot of additional stress for many dedicated helpers on the ground in doctors' offices and vaccination centers. And I expressly regret that," the CDU politician told Deutsche Presse-Agentur on Saturday. The demand for BioNTech has increased so much in the last two weeks that the stock is emptying very quickly, he said. In the new week alone, almost six million doses would be delivered to the vaccinating agencies. That is more than there have ever been booster vaccinations in Germany.

A Health Ministry overview of vaccine shipments also shows that Germany is expected to donate or has donated nearly 8.8 million doses of BioNTech to third countries this month through the Covax initiative. With BioNTech and Moderna, there are two excellent and highly effective vaccines, he said. There are enough of both to vaccinate 50 million people by the end of the year, Spahn said. "I can promise that everyone who wants to get vaccinated will get a good, safe and effective vaccine." In some studies of the effectiveness of booster vaccinations, the third vaccination with Moderna actually performed better than one with BioNTech, he said.

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