Berlin, Nov. 13 (BUS): Coronavirus tests will become free for all again on Saturday in Germany, as the country struggles to find a response to the resurgence of the disease that is breaking daily records and threatening its health system with collapse. .
Health officials ended months of free access to coronavirus tests just weeks ago, in an effort to encourage more people to get vaccinated.
The recent sharp rise in the number of cases shocked the country and forced it to use all the weapons in its arsenal in an attempt to detect cases as soon as possible, the German news agency dpa said.
On Saturday, Germany’s infectious disease agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), reported 45,081 new cases, which puts an incidence of seven days per 100,000 people at 277.4, a new record in this pandemic.
The day before, that number had reached 263.7. A week ago, it was 183.7. A month ago, it was 65.4.
The country also recorded 228 new deaths, up from 142 deaths last Saturday. The rate of intensive care beds occupied by coronavirus patients is now 4.7 per 100,000, although this is smoothed by sharp regional disparities. In December, that rate was 15.5.
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