Germany surpassed 100,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the first time on Wednesday, with a reported total of 112,323 new infections, Reuters reports.
The death toll also increased by 239 on Wednesday, rising to a total of 116,081, according to the news service.
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach reportedly said the peak of the latest wave, caused by the omicron variant of COVID-19, had not yet been reached, but he expects Germany to see a plateau in a matter of a few weeks.
“I think we will reach the peak of the wave in mid-February, and then the number of cases could fall again, but we haven’t reached the peak yet,” Lauterbach said, adding that he believes that there are thousands of unreported cases, reports Reuters.
Lauterbach also said he believes that vaccination should be mandatory for Germans by April or May to avoid more potential infections and deaths from new variants that could emerge in the fall.
Germany has now recorded a total of 8,186,850 COVID-19 cases, and in late November it hit the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from virus.
Germany was the fifth country in Europe to surpass 100,000 deaths, after Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy and France.