Berlin| Lothar Weiler, president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), said the Covid-19 delta variant accounts for only 6 percent of new cases in Germany, but the strain is spreading rapidly. “It’s not really a question of whether Delta will become the dominant version, but just when,” Weiler told reporters here on Friday.
“It depends on vaccination rates and how we deal with the easing of restrictions.”
According to the RKI, the federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention, the incidence rate of COVID-19 cases in Germany in the past seven days fell from 12 per 100,000 population on Thursday to 10.3 on Friday.
A week ago, the country’s seven-day incidence rate was still 19, reports Xinhua news agency.
Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters that it could be a ‘good summer’ if people in Germany remain vigilant despite falling cases.
However, if the seven-day incidence rate rises again, the response should be swift with the rollback of regional relaxations, he added.
According to RKI, the number of new daily Covid infections decreased as well as 1,076 new cases were reported on Friday, from 1,364 less than a week ago.
Germany’s total infections currently stood at 3,728,601, while the death toll stood at 90,277.
Meanwhile, about 24.7 million people in Germany had been fully vaccinated, bringing the country’s vaccination rate to 29.6 percent, the RKI said.
About 42 million people have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine.
