Germany worries as infection rate surges

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has called on people living in Germany to remain vigilant as the country's public health agency on Wednesday reported a jump of 1,226 in the number of new coronavirus infections.

Speaking to public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, Spahn called it "worrying" that the number of cases had now risen to a level last seen three months ago.

"This obviously — if we don't watch out now — can lead to a certain dynamic," he said, saying almost all regions had now been affected by outbreaks of varying sizes.

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Watch the drink

Spahn urged people to stick to the recommended measures to stem the spread of the virus, including wearing masks, keeping a proper distance from others and avoiding close contact in social settings.

"When there's alcohol involved … it can go very, very quickly," he said.

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Although Germany has received considerable praise for its management of the pandemic, infections have been rising in recent weeks, an uptick Spahn attributed not only to partying and family gatherings, but also the return of travelers from abroad at the end of the summer holidays.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, Germany has now recorded 218,519 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 9,207 deaths from the disease it causes, COVID-19. The first outbreaks in the country occurred in late January.

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Doubts about Russian vaccine

Spahn also expressed skepticism about the new vaccine against COVID-19 that has been approved by Russia, the first country in the world to take such a step.

"To the best of our knowledge, it has not been sufficiently tested," Spahn said, adding that the aim was not to be the first, but to come up with an effective, tested and safe vaccine.

He said Russian authorities had not been transparent about their research and testing methods, and that so-called phase 3 trials of the vaccine to test its safety had not been carried out with enough people.

Russia, which has now reached the unhappy milestone of 900,000 infections, approved the vaccine on Tuesday. It has been tested on humans for less than two months, but President Vladimir Putin vouched for its safety, saying he hoped his country would begin soon with mass vaccinations.

Russian officials on Wednesday again insisted that the vaccine was safe and that criticism of it was unfounded.

tj/rt (dpa, Reuters, AP)