COVID-19: Germany’s daily death toll hits 1,000

Germany recorded more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths in one day for the first time, days after it started vaccinating people as an extension of a lockdown looms.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose by 22,459 to 1,687,185, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll increased by 1,129 to 32,107.

The RKI said the data was not fully comparable as some health authorities reported fewer results during the holidays and some reports included late claims.

Daily infection numbers have not come down significantly since the 16 federal states in early December agreed that schools, most shops, bars and restaurants remain closed until January  10.

Several politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff Helge Braun, have said that an extension of the restrictions was likely.

Around 42,000 people, mostly in care homes have been vaccinated so far, the RKI said.

Germany officially kicked off its COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Sunday.

The federal government is planning to distribute more than 1.3 million vaccine doses to local health authorities by the end of this year and about 700,000 per week from January.