Germany reports record number of coronavirus fatalities in one day

Deaths from the coronavirus in Germany reached a single-day record high on Wednesday as numbers surge through most of Europe.

The country reported nearly 600 new deaths from the virus Wednesday, while Germany’s national disease control center logged 20,815 new cases of the virus, according to the Washington Post.

As cases began to surge again in the autumn months, German officials implemented a less-strict version of earlier lockdown measures that kept schools, most retailers and hair salons open.

Amid the increase, several individual states have tightened their restrictions, The Associated Press reported.

Saxony governor Michael Kretschmer said schools in the state will be closed from Monday through Jan. 10. The state, in the eastern part of the country, has Germany’s worst infection rates, with nearly 320 cases per 100,000 people.

Markus Soeder, the governor of Bavaria, is proposing a state of emergency with tighter controls on the border and curfews after nightfall, according to the AP. “The numbers are simply not going down,” he told the country’s parliament, warning of a second wave deadlier than that of the spring.

He added that Bavaria must specifically address residents evading bar closures by simply moving back and forth between individual Gluehweins — outdoor kiosks that serve mulled wine.

Martin Dulig, the economic minister for Saxony, tied the surge to the strength in those regions of the German far-right, which has been at the forefront of anti-masking and anti-lockdown protests.

“It can’t be right that the regions that reject masks and measures most strongly have the highest infection numbers,” he said, according to the AP. “There’s clearly a link.”

The European Medicines Association, which oversees vaccine regulation in the European Union, is set to review Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on Dec. 29. However, Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned a vaccine may not be available until January 2021.

The UK has already cleared the vaccine and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is set to review the emergency use authorization application on Thursday.