BERLIN (Reuters) – Omicron has become Germany’s dominant coronavirus variant accounting for 73.3 % of cases nationwide compared with 44.3 % seven days ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases wrote in its weekly report on Thursday.
The long-dominant Delta variant now accounts for just 25.9 % of cases, the RKI said.
“In the coming weeks we expect a strong increase in infections with the Omicron variant,” the RKI said. “First studies point to a lower share of hospitalizations in those who are fully vaccinated compared to infections with the Delta variant.”
Around 72% of the population in Germany was now double vaccinated and 44% have had a booster shot, it said.
Germany earlier on Thursday reported a new record of more than 81,000 COVID-19 infections in a day as the government’s coronavirus crisis manager warned of possible bottlenecks in testing.
(Reporting by Berlin newsroom; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
