Health Minister Jens Spahn and RKI head Lothar Wieler made the announcement in Berlin on Tuesday. The risk level will be downgraded from “very high” to “high,” Spahn said.

On December 11, it had been upgraded. In view of the lower incidences, the falling infection figures and the easing of tension in intensive care units in Germany, this step was possible, he said.

“The situation is getting better, it is clearly improving,” Spahn said, “but we are still in the middle of this pandemic.”

Out of 412 districts, only four now have more than 100 people out of 100,000 infected with the coronavirus in the past seven days. The so-called seven-day incidence rate is used as a key measure of infection rates in Germany.