BERLIN, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Germany's seven-day incidence of COVID-19 infections per 100.000 inhabitants continued to rise to 10.3 from 6.6 one week ago, reaching double digits again, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Monday.
Daily infections in Germany also increased as 546 cases were newly registered on Monday, 222 more than one week ago, according to the RKI, the federal government agency for disease control and prevention.
Germany had to prevent a new lockdown because it would be "devastating to many stores and restaurants that had already been closed for months," Peter Altmaier, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag on Sunday.
To date, more than 3.74 million COVID-19 infections have been officially registered in Germany since the outbreak of the pandemic. The death toll climbed to 91,363 on Monday, according to the RKI.
Almost 38.2 million people in Germany had been fully vaccinated as of Saturday, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 45.9 percent, the RKI data showed. More than 49.6 million people had received at least one vaccine dose. Enditem