BERLIN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of new COVID-19 cases confirmed in the past seven days in Germany hit a record high for the fourth day in a row, reaching 1,585.4 per 100,000 population, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Tuesday.
The RKI on Tuesday registered 198,888 new daily COVID-19 infections linked to the Omicron variant, around 42,000 more than late last week.
According to the German Intensive Care Availability Register (DIVI), the number of COVID-19 patients requiring treatment in intensive care units went up to 2,297 on Tuesday, 36 more than on the previous day but still well below the record figures during the Delta variant wave.
With only 605,000 persons vaccinated last week, Germany's vaccination campaign is slowing down. According to official figures, at least 48.1 million people had received a booster dose as of Monday, while 19.6 million people remain unvaccinated.
From Wednesday, vaccination is mandatory for healthcare and nursing staff in Germany. Under the new rules, employees are obliged to provide a proof of vaccination or recovery or a doctor's certificate that they could not be vaccinated for medical reasons.
The Federal Association of Private Social Service Providers (BPA) has warned that this could exacerbate the already severe staff shortage in the healthcare sector. ■