COVID-19: Death toll in Germany rises to 171

BERLIN (AA) - Death toll from coronavirus in Germany rose to 171 on Wednesday, and the number of cases exceeded 33,500, according to statistics released by the local health authorities.

Berlin-based website Coronavirus-Monitor, which compiled up-to-date numbers from local authorities, reported 171 deaths as of Wednesday morning, up from 159 on Tuesday.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has climbed to 33,954.

Germany’s disease control agency warned on Wednesday that the country was still at an early stage of the outbreak.

“We are only at the beginning of the epidemic,” Lothar Wieler, Robert Koch Institute’s president, told a news conference in Berlin, and urged citizens to follow measures announced by the government to curtail the spread of the virus, also known as COVID-19.

Germany has tightened coronavirus restrictions on Sunday with banning any social contact between more than two people in public.

The federal states ordered all non-essential shops to close, and restaurants were only permitted to run takeaway and home-delivery services.

Germany is the third-worst-affected country by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, after Italy and Spain.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 170 countries and territories. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide has now surpassed 428,400 while the death toll is over 19,000 and almost 110,000 have recovered, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the rising number of cases, most who contract the virus suffer only mild symptoms before making a recovery.