Germany’s coronavirus deaths surge past China’s

BERLIN (AA) - The number of deaths in Germany from the coronavirus has surpassed those reported by China, according to statistics released on Wednesday by local health authorities.

Data analysis firm Risklayer and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, which compiles real-time figures from nearly 400 local authorities, reported 301 new deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the toll to 3,495.

China, where the pandemic began in December, so far confirmed 3,342 deaths from the virus.

Despite the staggering death toll in Germany, the number of new daily cases of COVID-19 remained below 3,000 for a third consecutive day.

With 2,138 new cases, the number of people infected with the virus climbed to 132,210, according to figures published by Tagesspiegel daily.

Germany’s disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, has reported that nearly 72,600 people have recovered from the virus so far.

The country has the fifth-highest tally of reported COVID-19 infections in the world, ranking behind the U.S., Spain, Italy, and France. But its death toll remains far lower than other hard-hit countries.

Besides widespread coronavirus testing, Germany has also significantly raised the bed capacity of intensive care units in hospitals: from 28,000 to nearly 40,000 in a couple of weeks.

As of Tuesday, hospitals across the country had more than 8,500 free intensive care beds for coronavirus patients.

The German government imposed strict lockdown measures last month, ordering all non-essential shops to close, canceling festivals, sports events, and banning any social contact among more than two people in public.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to hold a video conference on Wednesday with the premiers of federal states to reassess the situation and discuss a gradual relaxing of coronavirus lockdown measures.

Since the virus emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.

There are nearly 2 million confirmed infections globally with over 126,700 deaths, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. More than 493,600 have recovered.