Germany's daily Covid-19 deaths top 1,000 for first time

Germany's daily coronavirus death toll has crossed 1,000 for the first time, health authorities said Wednesday.

A total of 1,129 people died in the previous 24 hours, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute, up from the previous record of 962 logged last Wednesday.

There were 22,459 new infections over the same period, it added.

An apparent drop in new infections and deaths in recent days was a result of local authorities not sending in their data over the Christmas period, the institute said.

More than 32,000 people have now died from the virus in Germany, which appeared to fare relatively well in the first wave of coronavirus in the spring but has been hit hard by a second wave.

The country began its vaccination drive on Saturday, with a 101-year-old woman in a care home becoming the first person to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.

Around 65 per cent of Germans said they are prepared to be vaccinated, according to a poll carried out by YouGov for the German news agency DPA.