BERLIN

Germany reported nearly 320,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, its highest-ever daily rise since the pandemic started.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country’s disease control agency, confirmed 318,387 new COVID-19 cases and 300 related fatalities in the past 24 hours.

The relaxation of anti-coronavirus measures last month and the spread of the highly contagious omicron sub-variant BA.2 are the main factors driving a spike in cases.

Hospitals across the country have reported staff shortages this week due to a sharp rise in sickness among health workers who were exposed to the virus.

About 75% of the hospitals were not in a position to maintain their normal level of operations, according to the German Hospital Federation (DKG).

On Wednesday, 2,301 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to hospitals, according to the official data.

There were 2,335 seriously ill coronavirus patients in ICUs across the country, with 895 of them on ventilators, said the DIVI association for emergency medicine.

Germany is among the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in Western Europe, with one of the highest caseloads in the region, just behind France and the UK.

The country of 83 million has so far reported nearly 19.6 million infections and 127,822 deaths.