Berlin, Aug 28 (TIWN) The Covid-19 incidence rate in Germany in the past seven days reached 70.3 per 100,000 people, up from 66.0 the previous day and 48.8 a week ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said.

The fourth wave of the pandemic continued to "gain momentum, particularly through infections within the young adult population, and is increasingly spreading to higher age groups".   

As of Saturday, Hamburg will be the first state in Germany to introduce new optional rules under which restaurants will be allowed to only accept vaccinated and recovered people.    Participating restaurants can receive a larger number of guests without Covid-19 measures such as a minimum distance and face masks.   Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Christine Lambrecht did not consider the new rules "problematic at all," she told the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.   

"All protective measures must always be tested for proportionality," Lambrecht noted.   Till date, almost 49.9 million people in Germany have been fully vaccinated, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 59.9 per cent, according to the RKI.    Almost 54 million people received at least one vaccine dose.    As of Saturday, Germany's overall Covid caseload and death toll stood at 3,925,190 and 92,125, respectively.