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BERLIN: In the race against the, Germany is betting on widespread testing and quarantining to break the infection chain, a strategy borrowed from South Korea whose success in slowing the outbreak has become the envy of the world. Germany is already carrying out more coronavirus tests than any other European country at a rate of 300,000 to 500,000 a week, according to officials. But Chancellor 's government aims to ramp that up to at least 200,000 tests a day, according to an interior ministry document seen by several German media outlets. The goal would be to test all those who suspect they have caught the virus, as well as the entire circle of people who have come into contact with a confirmed case. Current testing criteria are focussed on those who are sick with COVID-19 symptoms and have had contact with a confirmed case. More on Covid-19.The idea, according to the document, is to move from tests 'that confirm the situation' to tests that 'get ahead of it'. A crucial weapon in the battle would be the use of smartphone location data to trace a patient's recent movements, to more accurately track down and isolate potentially infected people.

While government officials and epidemiologists have come out in favour of cell-phone tracking, it remains a controversial idea in privacy-minded Germany, a nation haunted by the surveillance of the Nazi era and the communist-era Stasi secret police. Germany's proposed plans echo the 'trace, test and treat' strategy that appears to have helped South Korea bring its outbreak under control.

It has included mass screening for potential cases and heavy use of technology to monitor patients. Although Germany and South Korea are two very different countries, the Asian nation's virus strategy 'can be an example', the head of Germany's (RKI) for disease control told the daily. 'A key point is tracing cell phone data,' Lothar Wieler said.

With a total of 389 deaths out of more than 52,000 cases, Germany has a mortality rate of just 0.7 percent - compared with around 10 percent in hardest-hit Italy and eight percent in Spain. But German Health Minister has warned that the country could face 'a storm' of new cases in the weeks ahead. The RKI's Wieler warned that the dramatic scenes at Italian hospitals at breaking point could happen in Germany as well. 'We can't rule out that we will have more patients than ventilators here too,' he said. With 25,000 intensive care beds equipped with ventilators, Germany is in a better position than many countries to deal with an influx of patients in respiratory distress.

But years of underfunding have left the country's healthcare system woefully understaffed. 'In recent months, some intensive care beds have had to be put out of action because of a lack of staff,' said Reinhard Busse, a specialist in health economics at the Technical University of Berlin. Germany currently has some 17,000 unfilled vacancies in nursing care. As a result, many hospitals have resorted to drafting in retired health professionals or student medics to help with the expected coronavirus onslaught, including at Berlin's renowned Charite university hospital. 'Even before the coronavirus crisis, operations had to be cancelled because of a lack of staff,' Uwe Luebking, head of labour market policies at the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, told AFP.

And when there is personnel on hand, nurses can spend up to four hours a day doing paperwork as Germany continues to lag behind other nations in digitalising administrative tasks, experts say. To make matters worse, confinement measures and border checks brought in to stem the virus spread have made it harder for foreign workers to travel to their German workplaces, with healthcare institutions on the frontier with Poland particularly affected. Critics have also argued that the German health system, which pays hospitals a fixed price per surgery, has led many hospitals to focus on the more lucrative practice of offering scheduled surgeries like hip or knee replacements, at the expense of strengthening their emergency care facilities. Although Spahn has urged the directors of some 2,000 hospitals and clinics to cancel all non-urgent surgeries, several are resisting the call, according to Der Spiegel weekly.

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THE UK has seen its biggest day-on-day rise in deaths since the Covid-19 outbreak began, as Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock said they had tested positive for the virus.

A total of 759 people have now died in UK hospitals after being diagnosed with coronavirus, while 113,777 have tested positive, the Department of Health and Social Care said. Hundreds of thousands more are thought to be infected.

Providing the daily government press briefing, Michael Gove, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the best analysis showed the rate of infection in the UK had been doubling every three to four days.

‘These figures are a powerful reminder of the need for all of us to act,’ he said.

‘Strict social distancing measures have been put in place to restrict the spread of Covid-19.’

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He also confirmed the prime minister would continue to lead the national fight against the virus after he tested postive.

Mr Johnson, who has a high temperature and persistent cough, noticed he had mild symptoms yesterday afternoon and received the test results at midnight, Downing Street said.

His pregnant partner, Carrie Symonds, is not with the PM, and is reportedly isolating alone in Camberwell, south London, with the couple’s dog, Dilyn.

Mr Johnson and Mr Hancock have been working closely with the country’s top medics, including England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty who has also said he is self-isolating at home after experiencing symptoms compatible with coronavirus.

Downing Street said the advice on social distancing had been observed in No.10.

Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance tweeted that he has experienced no symptoms and has therefore not been tested.

In a video message posted on Twitter, Mr Johnson said: ‘I’m working from home and self-isolating and that’s entirely the right thing to do.

‘But, be in no doubt that I can continue thanks to the wizardry of modern technology to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fightback against coronavirus.

‘I want to thank everybody involved and, of course, our amazing NHS staff.’

Mr Hancock tweeted: ‘Fortunately for me the symptoms so far have been very mild so I’ve been able to carry on with the work driving forward the UK response.’

A spokesman for the chancellor said Rishi Sunak had not had any symptoms and therefore had not been tested for coronavirus and was not self-isolating.

Earlier this week, it was announced that the Prince of Wales was also suffering ‘mild symptoms’ of Covid-19.

Last night Charles was seen for the first time since testing positive.

Clarence House posted a video in its Instagram Stories of the heir to the throne joining the round of applause for the NHS from Birkhall, his private home on the Balmoral estate in Scotland.

Outgoing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wished Mr Johnson a ‘speedy recovery’ and said he hoped the PM’s ‘family are safe and healthy’.

Last night Mr Johnson applauded the NHS outside Downing Street a couple of metres away from the chancellor.

The meeting of his Cabinet took place remotely on Tuesday with ministers using Zoom video conferencing.

Downing Street has previously confirmed that foreign secretary Dominic Raab would stand in if Mr Johnson was too unwell to continue.

If Mr Raab was also ill, the PM has the power to delegate responsibility to any of his ministers.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed the Queen last saw Mr Johnson just over two weeks ago on March 11.

He said: ‘Her Majesty the Queen remains in good health.’

In other developments:

■ Firefighters have agreed to deliver food and medicine, drive ambulances and retrieve bodies if mass casualties arise.

■ Police began fining people breaching coronavirus lockdown rules, less than 24 hours after new laws were brought into force.

■ GP Habib Zaidi, 76, who died at Southend Hospital in Essex, is feared to have become the first doctor in the UK to die after contracting coronavirus.

■ Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has apologised for ‘ill-judged and poorly timed’ emails after the businessman faced fierce criticism when he tried to claim Sports Direct was an essential operator for keeping the nation fit.

■ As of 1pm today, 27 prisoners had tested positive for coronavirus in 14 prisons.