Germany’s third COVID wave ‘appears broken’, health minister says

Jens Spahn hails progress in curtailing the COVID-19 pandemic, but warns against lifting restrictions prematurely.

Germany’s health minister has hailed a drop in coronavirus transmission rates in the country, citing physical distancing measures and an accelerating vaccination campaign. “The third wave appears to be broken,” Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday during a weekly news briefing on Germany’s pandemic management. Spahn’s comments came as the head of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, Lothar Wieler, confirmed the incidence of COVID-19 infections was falling across all age groups in the country.