A board displaying that COVID-19 test is no longer necessary for shopping is seen at an entrance of a shopping mall in Berlin, capital of Germany, June 4, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

Germany is experiencing a "massive" pandemic of the unvaccinated, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Wednesday, calling for curbs targeting those not inoculated to tame a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

The fourth wave is raging "with exceptional force," Spahn said.

"We are currently experiencing mainly a pandemic of the unvaccinated and it is massive," he told reporters, warning that "in some regions in Germany intensive care beds are running out again."

Germany, the EU's most populous country of some 83 million people, has been grappling with a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks that has pushed up the seven-day incidence rate to highs not seen since May.

The country added 20,398 cases over the past 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch health institute, while another 194 people died.

Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has called the coronavirus trend "very worrying," signaled she was in favor of stricter curbs focused on the unvaccinated.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care on Wednesday climbed to 2,226, up almost 26 percent on the previous week to reach the highest level since early June, according to Germany's DIVI registry.

AFP