Germany on Thursday reported a record daily jump in coronavirus cases for a second consecutive day.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed 16,774 cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily total recorded for the entire pandemic period.
THE COUNTRY HAS REPORTED MORE THAN 480,000 CASES SO FAR
The previous single-day record was 14,964 registered on Wednesday.
The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units has doubled over the past two weeks, reaching 1,569 on Wednesday. Nearly half of them were on ventilators.
Despite the worrying trend of increased hospitalizations and intensive care unit rates, nearly 7,500 intensive care beds remained free as of Wednesday, according to the RKI.
With total cases of nearly 480,000, Germany has the fifth-highest tally of reported coronavirus infections in Europe, ranking behind France, Spain, the UK and Italy. But its death toll remains far lower than other hard-hit countries.