Berlin claims infection curve is flattening amid claims combination of young patients, more intensive care beds and determination to 'find every case' is behind unusual figures (5 pics)

Germany's death rate from coronavirus is far lower than that of its hard-hit European neighbours, but scientists are not sure why.

That puts Germany's death rate well below that in Britain (5.3 per cent), Italy (9.0 per cent), France (4.5 per cent), Switzerland (7.4 per cent) or Spain (5.4 per cent), which along with Germany are the six worst-affected countries in Europe.

There is no obvious explanation for this, because Germany has a relatively old population, a comparable health system to other countries, and has only imposed nationwide quarantine measures in the last few days.

One possible factor is that Germany is testing more aggressively than some countries, aiming to 'find every case' - meaning that its death rate could be a truer picture of the crisis.

The known patients in Germany are also younger than those in Italy, possibly lowering the death rate of a virus which is known to be more dangerous to older people.

Germany also has more intensive care beds than Italy, France or Britain, meaning that patients could be recovering more quickly.

The head of Germany's public health institute said today that 'we are seeing signs that the exponential growth curve is flattening off slightly', although the institute's own figures showed a surge in cases in the last 24 hours.

The German government also said that chancellor Angela Merkel was 'doing well' today as she began a spell in quarantine after coming into contact with a virus patient.