Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany rose significantly as 17,015 new cases were registered within one day, around 5,100 more than a week ago.

BERLIN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Germany's seven-day incidence rate rose for the seventh day in a row and climbed to 80.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Wednesday.

Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany rose significantly as 17,015 new cases were registered within one day, around 5,100 more than a week ago, according to the RKI, the federal agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention.

Germany is currently debating whether to extend the epidemic situation of national scope that is expiring at the end of November. After the outbreak of COVID-19, the state of emergency was first declared by the Bundestag in March 2020.

Minister of Health Jens Spahn spoke out in favor of phasing out the so-called epidemic situation of national scope. According to a ministry spokesman, Spahn already expressed this view during COVID-19 consultations with the health ministers of Germany's federal states.

"That is the wrong signal," said Karl Lauterbach, health expert of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), after the country's health minister's proposal became public on Monday, stressing that "winter is underestimated as a COVID-19 problem."

A majority of Germans, or 57 percent, were in favor of not extending the COVID-19-related state of emergency while continuing to uphold the so-called 3G rules which stand for vaccinated, recovered or tested, as well as hygiene and distance measures, according to a recent survey by market research institute YouGov.