BERLIN, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- For the first time since the end of December, Germany's seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate fell for the second day in a row, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Monday.
The national seven-day rate per 100,000 inhabitants fell from 1,466.5 on the previous day to 1,459.8. The RKI registered 76,465 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, around 18,800 less than a week ago.
An expert council of the German government said on Sunday that it expected a "plateauing and subsequent decline for the Omicron wave in the coming weeks."
Due to the Omicron wave, Germany extended its COVID-19 measures in late January to include contact restrictions, a mask mandate in schools and on public transport as well as valid proof of immunization or recovery or a recent negative test in several areas of public life.
Germany's state and federal state governments were considering a three-step plan to largely relax COVID-19 measures until March 20, the German news agency dpa reported. ■
