Negligence driving increase in German coronavirus cases: health institute

[July 28, 2020]  BERLIN (Reuters) - Negligence is behind a steady rise in new coronavirus infections in Germany, the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Tuesday, adding that it was unclear if the country was experiencing a second wave.

"The new developments in Germany make me very worried," Lothar Wieler said during his first news conference in weeks. "The rise has to do with the fact that we have become negligent."

The number of daily new cases almost doubled on Tuesday to 633, and the RKI linked the increase to increased social contact at parties and in the workplace. It urged people not to flout social distancing rules.

(Reporting by Joseph Nasr and Thomas Seythal)

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