German health minister says coronavirus outbreak is now ‘manageable again’

The coronavirus outbreak in Germany has become manageable again, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday. The number of patients who have made a recovery has been higher than the number of new infections every day this week, the minister noted.

“The outbreak has – as of today – become controllable and manageable again,” Spahn told reporters, adding that the health care system had “at no time been overwhelmed so far.”

Earlier, Spahn said a coronavirus contact tracing app will be ready for Germans to download and use on their smartphones in three to four weeks. Berlin has been more cautious than some of the Asian countries using digital technology to fight the coronavirus, restrained as it is by Europe’s strict data privacy laws.

Germany has the fifth highest Covid-19 caseload behind the US, Spain, Italy and France at nearly 134,000, but it has kept fatalities down to a relatively low 3,868 thanks to early and extensive testing, Reuters said.