Virus worry rises in Germany
It reports 1,226 new infections, highest tally since early May
BERLIN — Germany’s government urged citizens Wednesday to keep their guard up and stick to public health guidelines, as new COVID-19 infections hit a three-month high and schools reopened in the country’s most populous state.
Germany’s response so far has widely been seen as successful in slowing the spread of the pandemic efficiently and quickly, but the country’s disease control authority on Wednesday reported 1,226 new infections. That was the highest number since early May, although the figure has topped 1,000 on several days recently.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said smaller and mid-sized outbreaks have occurred in almost all regions, largely driven by travelers returning from abroad and people partying or having family gatherings.
“This is worrying, without doubt,”
Spahn told Deutschlandfunk radio. “And it can naturally lead to a new dynamic, if we don’t all now exercise caution.”
Spahn reiterated appeals to wear masks and keep social distances. In other developments:
Health authorities in New Zealand were scrambling Wednesday to trace the source of a new outbreak of the coronavirus as the nation’s largest city went back into lockdown.
Authorities had confirmed four cases of the virus in one Auckland household from an unknown source and were awaiting the test results of four more people.
The cases this week were the first known local transmission of the virus in New Zealand in 102 days.
The Australian state of Victoria on Wednesday reported a record 21 virus deaths and 410 new cases from an outbreak in the city of Melbourne that has prompted a strict lockdown.
The number of new cases in Victoria is down from the peak, giving authorities some hope the outbreak is waning.
■ China’s new domestic coronavirus cases fell into the single digits on Wednesday, while Hong Kong reported just 33 new cases. The National Health Commission said all nine new cases were found in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, whose capital, Urumqi, has been at the center of China’s latest major outbreak.
■ The British government on Wednesday changed the way it compiles coronavirus deaths, a move that reduced the country’s official death toll by more than 5,000.
The Department of Health said the new total is 41,329, down from 46,706. That is still Europe’s highest death toll.
In England the tally included anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and later died, with no cutoff point. Public Health England said Wednesday that it will adopt a 28-day cut-off date, bringing it into line with the rest of the U.K.