(Fighting new crown pneumonia) Berlin confirmed first patient raises risk grade to "medium"
China News Agency, Berlin, March 2 (Reporter Peng Dawei) The German authority Robert Koch Institute said on the 2nd that the country's capital, Berlin, was diagnosed with the first case of new crown pneumonia, and the number of reported diagnoses nationwide increased to 157 (As of 15:00 on the 2nd). On the same day, the agency raised the country's risk level from "medium to low" to "medium" for the first time. A school in Berlin has been temporarily closed due to a confirmed infection by a teaching staff member, and another private international school has suspended classes for precautionary reasons.
The Robert Koch Institute is the German federal authority on disease prevention and control. The data released by the institute as of 15:00 of the day showed that 157 confirmed cases had been reported in Germany, of which Berlin was the first confirmed case since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia outbreak. The densely populated North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany remains the country's most diagnosed federal state, with a total of 90 diagnoses as of the day.
The Robert Koch Institute said on the same day that it is expected that the number of confirmed diagnoses will continue to rise in Germany, along with the outbreak of infection chains and outbreaks in the country. To this end, the Institute raised the health risks facing the German public from the previous "medium to low" to "medium". The institute also expects that the spread of the epidemic will continue worldwide, but also emphasizes that the results of the above assessment may change quickly based on the latest developments in the situation.
By the night of the same day, the Berlin city government had announced two additional local cases, but this number has not been confirmed by German federal authorities and included in national data. According to information released by the Berlin municipal government, the school is temporarily closed after a faculty member was diagnosed with new crown pneumonia after a ski trip in Italy after a faculty member was diagnosed with Immanuel Lasker Middle School near Berlin's East Cross Station. All teachers and students at the school were required to observe at home. The Berlin International Metropolitan School, a private international school in central Berlin, also announced a preventive suspension on the same day.
Despite the rapid spread of the epidemic in Germany, the reporter saw in the center of Berlin that day, people's lives were still normal, and people wearing masks were not seen on the streets.
According to German media reports, recent purchases of food, disinfection supplies and toilet paper have occurred in many places in Germany. In response, Federal Minister of Health Jens Span said hoarding supplies was an excessive exaggeration. He said that despite limited supplies of supplies in certain places, the country did not expect food shortages. (Finish)