Coronavirus Update: Cases Skyrocket In Germany, Prompting Economic Concerns

Confirmed cases of Covid-19, also known as coronavirus, in Germany skyrocketed on Saturday, reaching 795 by mid-day after over 100 new cases were confirmed. The number of cases has increased 12-fold since a week ago, when 66 were confirmed as of Feb. 9. Germany now has the second-most confirmed cases of any country in Europe, behind Italy.

On Saturday morning, cases in Germany were concentrated in portions of the west and south of the country. According to Reuters, the infections originated at an automotive company with locations in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of Covid-19. The New York Times also attributed the spread of the virus to an infected man who attended Carnival celebrations in North Rhine-Westphalia.

As of now, there have been no deaths reported in Germany. However, at least one patient with a weakened immune system due to a recent organ transplant has been reported to be in critical condition.

“We must accept that this will continue and we will have more new cases confirmed,” Dilek Kalayci, health minister in Berlin, said. “No one is able to stop this from spreading.”

Since Germany is particularly reliant on trade, anxiety about the impact of coronavirus on the country’s economy had been growing. The recent spread of the coronavirus to Italy may create added supply-chain interruptions for Germany.

“These events show how fragile global supply chains are,” Ola Kallenius, chairman for Daimler and the head of Mercedes-Benz, said in an interview. “But a world without global work sharing would be less successful... We should protect [that success] while checking for vulnerabilities where we can bring more security into the supply chain.”

Daimler was forced to take a longer-than-usual break from production in China after Chinese New Year due to the outbreak. Elsewhere, airline Lufthansa has had to cut around half of all its flights as demand for travel continues to decline.

As of Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to be working with allies to create a plan that will help ease the economic strain of coronavirus.

Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, had been facing recession concerns before the coronavirus.