Berlin, Mar 28 (IANS): The death rate among Covid-19 patients in German university hospitals fell significantly over the course of 2020, according to a new study.

A research group from the University of Erlangen found that improved treatments and the growing experience of clinical teams may be contributing to this trend, dpa news agency reported on Sunday.

The analysis shows a decrease in the average death rate from 20.7 per cent between January and April to 12.7 per cent between May and September.

The data set includes 1,300 Covid-19 patients in 14 German university hospitals.

Overall, almost a fifth of all Covid-19 patients (18.8 per cent) died in the 14 clinics from January to September.

For people on ventilators, the death rate between January to April reached 39.8 per cent. In the later period, it fell slightly to around a third (33.7 per cent).

German is in the midst of a severe third wave of infections.

The seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants, a key metric in measuring the infection rate, rose to 129.7 on Sunday.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control said the metric had not reached this level since January 19.

Health authorities reported 17,176 new cases to the RKI within one day. Ninety deaths were recorded within 24 hours.

The new tallies have increased the overall caseload and death toll to 2,770,696 and 75,858, respectively.