UPDATE - COVID-19: Death toll in Germany rises to 171

UPDATES WITH LATEST STATISTICS ON INTENSIVE CARE PATIENTS, PEOPLE HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID-19 SYMPTOMS

BERLIN (AA) - Death toll from the novel coronavirus in Germany rose to 171 on Wednesday, and the number of cases exceeded 33,500, according to statistics released by the local health authorities.

Berlin-based website Coronavirus-Monitor, which compiled up-to-date numbers from local authorities, reported 171 deaths as of Wednesday morning, up from 159 on Tuesday.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has climbed to 33,954.

Germany’s disease control agency warned on Wednesday that the country was still at an early stage of the outbreak.

“We are only at the beginning of the epidemic,” Lothar Wieler, head of Robert Koch Institute, told a news conference in Berlin, and urged citizens to follow measures announced by the government to curtail the spread of the virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

-1,000 patients under intensive care

Gerald Gass, president of the German Hospital Federation, said on Wednesday that currently around 1,000 coronavirus patients were being treated in intensive care units.

He told German media group Funke that the total number of coronavirus patients receiving treatment at hospitals across the country was nearly 4,000.

“I expect that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases would reach to 70,000 until the end of this week,” he said.

Germany has tightened coronavirus restrictions on Sunday with banning any social contact between more than two people in public.

The federal states ordered all non-essential shops to close, and restaurants were only permitted to run takeaway and home-delivery services.

Germany is the third-worst-affected country by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, after Italy and Spain.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the new coronavirus has spread to at least 171 countries and territories. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide has now surpassed 435,000 while the death toll is over 19,600 and almost 112,000 have recovered, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the rising number of cases, the majority of people who contract the virus suffer only mild symptoms before making a recovery.