A German Red Cross healthcare worker takes a sample from a driver to test for possible coronavirus infection at a drive-through test station in Mechernich, Germany, March 24, 2020. Germany's confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus increased by 4,764 within one day to 27,436 on Tuesday, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced Tuesday. So far, Germany has recorded 114 deaths as of Tuesday, according to RKI, the federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)
BERLIN, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Germany's confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus increased by 4,764 within one day to 27,436 on Tuesday, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced Tuesday.
So far, Germany has recorded 114 deaths as of Tuesday, according to RKI, the federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention.
On Monday, the number of confirmed cases in Germany had increased by 4,062 and RKI president Lothar Wieler had been cautiously optimistic. "We see the trend that the exponential growth curve is flattening out somewhat."
However, Wieler stressed that a more precise statement could only be made on Wednesday because infection reports from German health authorities had been delayed because of the weekend.
On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had announced a limited curfew for the country to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
According to a survey by infratest dimap, a Berlin-based institute and company, a huge majority, or 95 percent, of Germans were supportive of the measures. For the next two weeks, German citizens are only allowed to meet members of their own household while public gatherings of more than two non-family members are generally forbidden.
To enforce the contact ban, the government of the Germany's most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) published a penalty and fine catalogue on Tuesday.
In NRW, a breach of the contact ban could now be fined with 200 euros (217 U.S. dollars) for each person. The fine for picnics or barbecues was even higher at 250 euros per participant.
