Berlin, Mar 26 (IANS): Germany's actual daily Covid-19 infections were likely to be twice as high as the number of officially reported cases, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has said.

"The number of unreported cases is not known, but it can be assumed that the actual number of new infections is more than twice as high," Lauterbach said on Friday at a press conference.

"Unfortunately, it is not a good situation."

Reported infections remained near record figures as 296,498 cases were reported within 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute. The seven-day incidence per 100,000 residents slightly rose to a new record level of 1,756.4, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nevertheless, a high number of deaths, around 300 per day, and the "impending overload of the health care system are unacceptable," the German Health Minister said.

"We have come to a situation where we cannot simply wait."

Lauterbach defended the recent easing of nearly all Covid-19 measures in Germany, but urged the federal states to use their right to tighten measures again for particularly critical hotspots.

Unvaccinated people should get a jab as they could "hardly avoid infection at the moment." Although elderly people and those with pre-existing conditions were particularly at risk, nearly 90 per cent had not received a fourth vaccination dose.

As of Thursday, 75.9 per cent of Germany's population had been fully vaccinated, with at least 48.6 million booster shots administered, according to official figures. However, 19.5 million people in the country remain unvaccinated.