Germany reports 215 new deaths, over 20,000 virus cases

BERLIN (AA) - Coronavirus infections in Germany continued to rise with health officials reporting 21,866 new cases and 215 deaths on Thursday.

According to the figures released by the Robert Koch Institute, new infections jumped by more than 3,300 over the last 24 hours, up from 18,487 on Wednesday.

Despite a partial lockdown which began on Nov. 2, the seven-day average of new infections remained above 18,500.

The institute reported 215 more deaths in the past day, pushing the tally to 11,982.

The increase in fatalities in recent weeks were due to the rise in the proportion of new cases among older age groups, according to the institute.

About 86% of coronavirus-related deaths were among people aged 70 years or older.

Hospitals across the country have reported a sharp rise in the number of severely ill COVID-19 patients.

As of Wednesday, 3,127 coronavirus patients were receiving treatment in intensive care units (ICUs), up from 1,696 two weeks ago.

Authorities have repeatedly warned that while the country has plenty of ICU beds, hospitals might soon be short-staffed due to an exponential growth in infections.

Germany has recorded 727,553 cases so far, the fifth-highest tally of coronavirus infections in Europe, behind France, Spain, the UK, and Italy.