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BERLIN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, increased by 4,003 within one day to 103,228 in Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Wednesday.

The number of deaths increased by 254 to 1,861, according to RKI, the federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention.

Imposed social restrictions were promising and a "positive trend" in the spread of the coronavirus in Germany was discernable, RKI president Lothar Wieler told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

"We have to keep reassessing developments," stressed Wieler. The number of new cases per day as well as the reproduction number, which indicates how many people are being infected by one person, would be important indicators in the evaluation.

The reproduction number of COVID-19 in Germany was currently 1.3 although there were some fluctuations. "Our goal is to get this number below one," said Wieler.