Prognosis
Germany’s Covid Wave Isn’t Receding as Hospitals Struggle
- Top officials paint grim picture heading into European winter
- Infections have been rising at a record daily pace this week
People walk along a central shopping street in Nuremberg, Germany.
Photographer: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
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Germany’s fourth Covid-19 wave is hitting Europe’s biggest economy with full force and there’s no sign of record infections easing anytime soon, according to the country’s top health officials.
Some hospitals are already overwhelmed with patients, and efforts to lift Germany’s relatively low vaccination rate beyond 70% won’t bring relief for weeks at the earliest, Lothar Wieler, the head of the RKI public-health institute, said Friday in Berlin. That’s forcing officials in coronavirus hotspots to revisit some restrictions and testing strategies deployed last winter.