Germany on Friday registered a record number of coronavirus cases for the third day in a row, as the country battles a brutal fourth wave of the pandemic.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country's disease control agency, confirmed 76,414 new infections in the past 24 hours, and 357 coronavirus-related fatalities.

According to the institute, nearly 774,300 individuals are still sick due to COVID-19, an alarming figure not seen in the previous three waves of the pandemic.

The latest surge in coronavirus infections has led to a dramatic increase in hospitalizations and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, forcing many hospitals to postpone non-critical operations.

There were 4,202 seriously ill coronavirus patients in ICUs across the country on Thursday, with 2,163 of them on ventilators, according to the DIVI association for emergency medicine.

German authorities introduced tougher measures this week, especially for the unvaccinated.

Since Wednesday, many federal states are requiring passengers on public transport to be vaccinated, or have recovered or tested negative.

According to the “3G rule” in the workplace, employees now have to present proof of vaccination, recovery from the virus or a negative test before coming to work.

Several federal states, including Brandenburg, Saxony, and Bavaria, canceled Christmas markets and ordered bars and clubs to close in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.