Germany recorded its highest seven-day incidence of infections on Sunday, a day after thousands of protesters gathered across the country to make their opposing opinions heard, with some protesting the government's coronavirus containment measures and others demonstrating against the anti-vaccination movement.
More than 1,000 people in Hamburg and around 2,500 people in Freiburg, in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, came out to protest on Saturday against what organizers called "conspiracy ideologies."
The Hamburg rally, billed as an event to promote "solidarity and enlightenment instead of conspiracy ideologies," was originally planned as a counter-demonstration to a protest by anti-vaccination activists where up to 15,000 participants were expected.
Despite a police ban on the anti-vaccination event, thousands still gathered in front of the Hamburger Kunsthalle museum to protest COVID-19 measures. Police estimated there were around 3,000 participants in the afternoon. Most did not wear masks and scuffles broke out.
An administrative court had rejected an urgent appeal by the organizer to reverse the ban, which cited the risk of the virus spreading as its grounds.
A large police presence was on the ground in both Hamburg and Freiburg on Saturday.
In Freiburg, the anti-conspiracy protesters were outnumbered by some 6,000 people demonstrating against containment measures.
The Freiburg police did not register any major incidents and said they were aiming to ensure that the two demonstrations did not get in each other's way.
In the western city of Dusseldorf, more than 7,000 people protested compulsory vaccination. A police spokesperson said in the evening that the demonstration was so far "peaceful and largely free of disturbances."
One participant was taken into custody for carrying a knife, found by the police during security checks after a violation of mask rules, and administrative offense proceedings were initiated for dozens of other cases.
The head of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, meanwhile warned that those protesting COVID-19 government policy represent a new kind of threat.
They can no longer be clearly categorized as far-right or far-left extremists, and are not united by any ideological bracket, but rather by contempt for the democratic constitutional state and its representatives, Haldenwang told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.
"They fundamentally reject our democratic state system," Haldenwang stressed.
Haldenwang said these extremists do not need a specific cause and that the pandemic is only the latest topic they have latched onto.
"Whether it is the coronavirus, the refugee policy, or the flood disaster. Some of the same people were trying to give the impression that the state was failing and doing nothing," Haldenwang explained.
7-day incidence of infections passes 500 for first time
Just a day after the nationwide protests, Germany recorded a new high in its seven-day incidence of infections, according to the country's disease control body, as the omicron variant continues its spread.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 515.7 new infections per 100,000 people per week on Sunday, marking the first time the measure passed 500 in the country.
This compares to the figure of 497.1 a day earlier and 362.7 a week earlier.
German health authorities recorded 52,504 infections in the last 24-hour period. A week earlier 36,552 were recorded.
Forty-seven coronavirus deaths were reported across Germany in the latest daily count, compared to 77 a week earlier.
The RKI has counted 7,965,977 coronavirus infections in Germany since the pandemic began. The true number of cases is likely much higher as many infections are not detected.
The number of patients in hospital per 100,000 of the population is not published on the weekend. On Friday it was 3.23.
RKI figures show 6,963,700 people in Germany have recovered from COVID-19, while the number of people who have died from or with COVID-19 stands at 115,619.