COVID-19: Germany records 16,774 cases in a day

BERLIN. KAZINFORM - Germany on Thursday reported a record daily jump in coronavirus cases for a second consecutive day, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed 16,774 cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily total recorded for the entire pandemic period.

The previous single-day record was 14,964 registered on Wednesday.

Local health authorities reported 89 more COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total death toll to 10,272.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units has doubled over the past two weeks, reaching 1,569 on Wednesday. Nearly half of them were on ventilators.

Despite the worrying trend of increased hospitalizations and intensive care unit rates, nearly 7,500 intensive care beds remained free as of Wednesday, according to the RKI.

With total cases of nearly 480,000, Germany has the fifth-highest tally of reported COVID-19 infections in Europe, ranking behind France, Spain, the UK and Italy. But its death toll remains far lower than other hard-hit countries.