BERLIN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- As Germany heads towards the peak of its Omicron wave, Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach has warned against easing COVID-19 restrictions too soon.
"The situation is not really under control yet," Lauterbach said at a press conference on Tuesday. "The current discussion in Germany about easing restrictions is "out of place."
Lauterbach expects the Omicron wave to peak in Germany in around one to two weeks. Scrapping essential COVID-19 measures now "would significantly extend the wave," he said.
Germany's seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate reached a new all-time high of 1,441 infections per 100,000 inhabitants on Tuesday, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.
However, RKI president Lothar Wieler said he was "optimistic that we will soon get over the Omicron wave."
Although the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units (ICUs) has increased slightly to 2,390, this number is far below the peak of around 5,700 during the height of the second wave in early 2021, according to the German Intensive Care Availability Register (DIVI).
However, Germany's vaccination campaign has continued to slow down. So far, 45.3 million people have received a booster vaccination in the country. ■