WITH a death toll of just 44 compared to its huge 16,626 cases of infection - Germany seems to be bucking the trend on coronavirus fatalities.

In fact, they have a fatality rate of around just 0.2 per cent, compared to 7.9 per cent in Italy and 3.7 per cent in the UK.

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4 A woman wearing a face mask in the finance district in Frankfurt, Germany Credit: Getty Images - Getty

And scientists have been left baffled as to why exactly Germany's figures are so much lower than in other countries.

It comes as the number of cases of Covid-19 in the UK have risen to 3,269, with the death toll standing at 144 - and the number of deaths now stand at 3,405 in Italy.

Firstly, experts have pointed to the fact Germany has one of the world’s highest concentrations of hospitals may be helping to keep the German death rate down.

On top of this, the German government said it would double the number of intensive care beds to about 56,000 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In contrast, the UK has just 4,000 ICU beds and frightening reports from northern Italy have told of doctors being forced to choose which patients get them.

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ICU beds can mean the difference between life and death for those who become severely ill with Covid-19.

As well as more ICU beds, Dr Mike Ryan, health emergencies director at the World Health Organisation (WHO) also revealed rigorous testing in Germany may be having an impact on their death toll.

He said: "Germany has had a very aggressive testing process - so the number of tests maybe detecting more mild cases."

And, speaking at a press conference, Professor Lothar Wieler of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute added: "From the beginning, we have very systematically called upon our doctors to test people.

"We can provide testing to a high degree so that we can easily look into the beginnings of the epidemic."

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The WHO have called on countries to "test, test, test" for coronavirus - and experts say Germany’s strict testing programme may be doing more than just keeping the death rate down by documenting more cases.

It was only on Wednesday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed that the government will increase the number of people tested for Covid-19 to 25,000 hospital patients a day.

Official figures show that rates of infection among the most vulnerable age group, those aged 60 and above, are much lower in Germany than elsewhere too.

While some say that is just a case of good luck, it may be that by identifying cases early, Germany has been able to track chains of infection and prevent coronavirus hitting those most vulnerable.

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“There is a very big systemic difference between Germany and other countries,” Christian Drosten, the leading virologist at Berlin’s Charite teaching hospital, told Watson magazine.

“Our regulations for the introduction of new test procedures are very liberal. In other countries, there is a central authority that does all the testing for new diseases.”

By contrast, in Germany any doctor can perform a coronavirus test and public health insurance will pay.

Despite Germany appearing to be better prepared for Covid-19 than most of its neighbours, experts warned eople not to be complacent about the death rate.

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And they have cautioned that Germany may simply be at an earlier stage of the pandemic, and that death rates here may soon catch up.

“This is just the beginning for Germany,” said Prof Wieler of the Robert Koch Institute told The Telegraph. "If you imagine an epidemic like a curve, then there are countries that are simply further along it."