Last checked at 
* Epidemiologist says 'irrational' to loosen restrictions
* Merkel, state leaders allowed phased easing of curbs
* City of Berlin puts on hold plans for further easing
(Adds Berlin stopping further easing of lockdown)
BERLIN, March 16 (Reuters) - Coronavirus infections are
rising exponentially in Germany, an expert at the Robert Koch
Institute for infectious diseases said on Tuesday, putting at
risk plans to lift the lockdown and revive the economy.
The number of cases per 100,000 reported on Tuesday was
83.7, up from 68 a week ago, and the RKI has said that metric
could reach 200 by the middle of next month.
Germany is definitely in a third wave of the pandemic,
driven by the fact it has loosened restrictions in recent weeks
just as a more transmissable variant has spread, Dirk Brockmann,
an epidemiologist at the RKI, told Germany's ARD television.
"It has been totally irrational to loosen up here. It is
just fuelling this exponential growth," he said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders agreed a phased
easing of curbs earlier this month along with an "emergency
brake" to let authorities reimpose restrictions if case numbers
rise above 100 per 100,000 on three consecutive days.
They are due to meet again on March 22 to discuss whether to
allow any further relaxation of the rules.
The state government in the city of Berlin decided on
Tuesday to put on hold any more easing, such as allowing
restaurants or cinemas to open, the Tagesspiegel newspaper
reported.
VACCINATION WOES
Germany's decision on Monday to suspend AstraZeneca's
vaccine could delay progress in reaching herd immunity
and postpone an economic recovery in the second quarter,
analysts said.
The decision follows seven cases of thrombosis in Germany,
including three deaths, and delivers a major setback to the
country's drive to speed up its sluggish vaccination campaign.
A planned meeting between Merkel and state leaders on
Wednesday to discuss using family doctors to administer COVID-19
vaccines has been postponed until after the European Medicines
Agency completes its review into the AstraZeneca shot.
AstraZeneca has said an analysis of its safety data covering
reported cases from over 17 million vaccine doses given had
shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism,
deep vein thrombosis or low levels of platelets.
The RKI's Brockmann noted that 1,000 people in a million had
died of COVID-19, compared to possibly 1 in a million from
complications associated with the vaccine.
"In the risk groups, the risk of dying of COVID is much,
much higher. That means it is probably 100,000 times more likely
to die of COVID than because of an AstraZeneca vaccine," he
said.
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson and Caroline Copley, Editing by
Timothy Heritage and Gareth Jones)
