Coronavirus infections are spreading exponentially once again in the country, up 20% in the last week, Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) epidemiologist Dirk Brockmann told ARD television on Tuesday.
Key comments
“We are exactly on the flank of the third wave. That can no longer be disputed. And at this point we have eased the restrictions and that is speeding up the exponential growth.”
“It made sense to explain the relative risks to the population, noting that 1,000 people in a million had died of COVID-19, compared to possibly 1 in a million from complications associated with the vaccine.”
“In the risk groups, the risk of dying of COVID is much, much higher. That means it is probably 100,000 times more likely to die of COVID than because of an AstraZeneca vaccine.”
In the last hour, the RKI reported 5,480 new coronavirus cases and 238 deaths as of Tuesday.
Germany on Monday suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s covid vaccine, making it the latest of several European countries to suspend the vaccine following reports of blood clot disorders after the first dose.
Market reaction
EUR/USD erases gains and trades flat at 1.1927, as the US dollar looks to find its feet amid the downbeat market mood. Focus shifts to the German ZEW survey.