Berlin, Sep 16 (IANS): The German government announced that the number of people requiring hospital treatment for Covid-19 is now the key indicator used to assess the pandemic situation in the country.

"As vaccination coverage of the population increases, the significance of the seven-day incidence of new infections changes," the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

The hospitalisation incidence is measured as the number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised per 100,000 people in the past seven days, reports Xinhua news agency.

With 628 people newly hospitalised with Covid-19 on Wednesday, the seven-day incidence rose slightly from 1.86 on the previous day to 1.88, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

Additional indicators which are used to assess the infection situation are the seven-day incidence of new infections differentiated by age, the intensive care treatment capacity available, and the number of people vaccinated against the virus.

As of Wednesday, employers in particularly sensitive areas such as nursing homes, schools and daycare centers are legally entitled to request the vaccination status of employees.

"This allows facilities to organise their work to minimize the risk of infection," the federal government said.

The seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate in Germany fell to 77.9 per 100,000 people on Wednesday, compared to 81.1 the day before and 82.7 a week ago, according to the RKI.

Till date, more than 51.9 million people in Germany have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 62.4 per cent, according to the RKI.

More than 55 million people have received at least one vaccine dose.