COVID outbreak in Germany is ‘worse than ever’, top health expert says

Germany's top health expert has warned the COVID outbreak is “worse than ever” after the country was forced to enter a partial lockdown earlier this week.

Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) which tracks infectious diseases, said there is a danger the pandemic would get “harder to deal with” without further restrictions.

"The situation is more serious that it ever has been in this pandemic,” he told a press conference on Tuesday.

“The case numbers are higher than ever and they keep rising. There is the danger that the situation will keep getting worse and it will get harder and harder to deal with the pandemic and its consequences.

"At the moment far too many people are being infected with SARS-CoV-2.

“What we are currently seeing is the result of the carelessness of some people, for which others are paying a very high price.

“The health authorities are increasingly exhausted, for example they can no longer trace contacts or determine the circumstances of infections.

Read more: Second European country facing new lockdown over Christmas

“Many hospitals are at their limits, as are the doctors and nurses. We all can and must help to bring infections under control immediately.”

It comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 14,432 to 1,351,510, data from the RKI showed on Tuesday.

Watch: Germany forced into stricter lockdown over Christmas

The reported death toll rose by 500 to 22,475, the tally also showed.

Earlier this week, the German government announced a return to partial lockdown over the Christmas period.

The new measures will last from 16 December until 10 January and see schools and non-essential shops closed across Germany.

"We are forced to act, and we're acting too," Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

"The measures which we began on November 2 have not been enough.

"The health system is under heavy strain and our aim has always been to avoid an overloading of the health care system.”

Watch: The COVID dos and don’ts of Christmas this year