(Bloomberg) -- Germany's coronavirus infection rate fell to the lowest in almost three weeks, while the number of new cases remained well below the level at the height of the outbreak.
- The reproduction factor -- or R value -- dropped to 0.72 on Wednesday, from 2.02 the day before, according to the latest estimate by the country's health body, the Robert Koch Institute. A number below 1.0 is seen as preventing exponential growth in the number of cases and a second wave of infections.
- The estimate means that out of 100 people who get infected, a further 72 people are likely to contract the virus.
- There were 391 new infections in the 24 hours through Thursday morning, down from 712 the previous day and bringing the total to 192,871, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That compares with almost 7,000 at the peak of the pandemic in late March. Fatalities increased by 14 to 8,928.
- During the past week, the infection rate had been lifted by local outbreaks, including in two municipalities in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the district of Guetersloh, more than 2,000 people were infected, most of them working at a local meat plant.
- Health Minister Jens Spahn said Wednesday it's important to make clear that even if infection numbers have generally been lower for some weeks, the virus is still present.
- Since case numbers in Germany are generally low, local outbreaks have a relatively strong influence on the R value, according to the RKI.
- “For this reason, the reproduction figures may continue to fluctuate strongly”: RKI
- The RKI also provides a seven-day R value, which compensates for fluctuations. That value was 1.17 on Wednesday, down from 1.67 the previous day.
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