Germany's COVID-19 incidence rate rises to all-time high

BERLIN - Germany's seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate continued to rise on Tuesday to a new all-time high of 213.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said.

On Monday, the incidence rate was already at a record high of 201.1. The previous peak -- just below 200 -- was registered during the second COVID-19 wave in December last year.

The daily number of COVID-19 cases also continued to rise as 21,832 new infections were registered within one day, around 11,000 more than a week earlier.

According to the German Intensive Care Availability Register (DIVI), the number of COVID-19 patients requiring treatment in intensive care units (ICUs) also kept climbing and reached 2,687 on Tuesday.

In the capital Berlin, the Charite University Hospital started to cancel all scheduled procedures. The rising number of COVID-19 patients made this step necessary, a spokesperson said.

"Everyone must now work together," German Chancellery Minister Helge Braun told the public broadcaster ARD on Tuesday, reiterating the need for mandatory testing and the better organization of booster vaccination by the federal and state governments.

"We still need to achieve around 20 million booster vaccinations by Christmas," Braun said. According to the RKI, only 2.8 million people in Germany have received additional booster shots so far.

Although Germany is far from achieving herd immunity, its vaccination campaign has slowed down. As of Monday, around 55.9 million people had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 67.2 percent, according to the RKI.