German health minister urges tighter COVID-19 measures amid autumn wave

Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a train in Berlin, capital of Germany, April 1, 2022. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)

Germany's seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate increased to 760 infections per 100,000 inhabitants on Friday from around 578 one week earlier, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.

BERLIN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach called on the country's federal states to reintroduce stricter requirements for wearing face masks as COVID-19 infection figures are rising amid the current autumn wave.

"The sooner you hit the brakes, the better it is," Lauterbach said at a press conference on Friday.

Since the beginning of the month, German states have been authorized to set individual COVID-19 measures. There are only a few exceptions, such as a nationwide FFP2 mask mandate on long-distance trains.

It would make sense to "work with small restrictions now rather than reacting with very drastic ones late," Lauterbach said.

A passenger wearing a face mask gets off an S-Bahn train in Berlin, capital of Germany, April 1, 2022. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)

Germany's seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate increased to 760 infections per 100,000 inhabitants on Friday from around 578 one week earlier, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.

Lauterbach said he suspected a "considerable number of unreported cases," making the actual number of COVID-19 infections three to four times higher. Around 114,000 new infections were registered in Germany on Friday, 60,000 fewer than a week ago.

The "strong spread in recent weeks" was leading to more COVID-19 outbreaks in hospitals and nursing homes, the RKI said in its weekly report on Thursday.

According to the German Intensive Care Availability Register (DIVI), the number of COVID-19 patients requiring treatment in intensive care units in the country increased to 1,683 on Friday (around 300 more than one week ago,) but was still well below the record figures seen in previous waves.

A man has a COVID-19 test at a test station in Berlin, capital of Germany, on March 24, 2022. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)

To counter the trend, Germany has launched a new vaccination advertising campaign.

Of the 69.4 million adults in Germany aged 18 or older, around 85 percent are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Almost 73 percent of them have received one booster vaccine and around 13 percent two booster shots, according to official figures.