German New Cases, Deaths Drop; Infection Rate Up for Fourth Day

(Bloomberg) --

Germany recorded a decline in the number of new coronavirus cases and deaths, while the infection rate rose for a fourth day, climbing higher above the key threshold of 1.0.

• There were 221 new cases in the 24 hours through Monday morning, bringing the total to 183,410, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That compares with 267 the previous day and almost 7,000 at the peak of the outbreak in late March.
• Fatalities increased by 10 to 8,540. The daily death toll has remained below 100 for more than two weeks.
• The reproduction factor of the virus, known as R-naught, rose to 1.20 on Monday, from 1.04 the day before, according to the latest estimate from the Robert Koch Institute.
• This means ten infected people are estimated to infect an average of around 12 others.
• The number represents the course of infection approximately one to two weeks ago and is sensitive to short-term changes, such as local outbreaks, especially if the number of new cases is relatively low, according to the health institute.
• The RKI also provides a 7-day R-value, which compensates for fluctuations. That value was 0.95 on Monday, up from 0.90 the previous day.
• The government is trying to keep the figure below 1.0 to prevent exponential growth in the number of cases and a second wave of infections.

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