Germany’s Covid-19 transmission rate has risen sharply following outbreaks in meat processing plants among other areas, according to health authorities in the European country.
This follows the latest report yesterday, Sunday, June 21, from Germany’s public health authority, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which puts the four-day infection rate, the reproduction value (R-value) of the coronavirus at 2.88, up from 1.79 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the seven-day R-value is estimated at 2.03, up from 1.55 the previous day.
According to the RKI, the reproduction number ‘R’ is defined as the mean number of people infected by one infected person.
The institute noted that, in total, 189,822 laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases and 8,882 deaths due to the coronavirus have been electronically reported to the RKI in Germany. Of these, approximately 174,900 have recovered, it was added.
“Outbreaks of Covid-19 have been reported in several federal states – including in institutions for asylum seekers and refugees, in meat processing plants and logistics companies, among seasonal harvest workers and in connection with religious events and family gatherings,” the institute noted in its report.
“A high seven-day incidence rate was observed in four districts, primarily due to localised outbreaks: The districts of Gutersloh and Warendorf [both North Rhine-Westphalia] and the cities of Magdeburg [Saxony Anhalt] and Neukolln [city district of Berlin].
The increase in the seven-day incidence in the district Guetersloh is due to an outbreak in a meat processing plant. More than 1,000 employees tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
“The affected plant was temporarily closed at short notice and all employees are being quarantined as well as their household members,” the RKI said.
“The outbreak in Guetersloh is linked to an outbreak in Warendorf. Employees of the meat processing company are residents of neighbouring districts,” it was added.
