German coronavirus death toll lower than most European countries 'due to very early lockdown'

Germany's coronavirus death toll is so much lower than most other European countries partly because it introduced its lockdown “very early”, its health minister said today.

Jens Spahn told a Policy Exchange event, led by former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, that failing to act by just a week or two could have let the number of cases of the virus explode.

Asked what the difference could be between the impact of Covid-19 on the UK and Germany, Mr Spahn said: “We had the lockdown very early.

“I remember very well middle of March, numbers were still relatively down.

“They were growing and it’s not a linear progression with this virus...it’s exponential.

“We knew if we don’t do something now just within one week or two week it could be too late because it happens quick.”

The UK Government has been accused of failing to introduced the lockdown, which only fully came into force on March 23, soon enough and allowing the epidemic to spiral, a claim it denies.

Mr Spahn added that Germany had introduced more of a Swedish-style lockdown than the very strict restrictions imposed in some countries such as Spain.

He also stressed that his country had a nework of private laboratories which allowed it to continue community testing for new infections as the virus spread.

More than 50,000 people have died in the UK with Covid, compared to around 9,000 in Germany.

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