A view of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as Germany tightens lockdown on Dec. 16, 2020. (Photo by Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) BERLIN - Germany hit a new record level of coronavirus deaths as it entered a harder lockdown Wednesday, closing shops and schools to try to bring down stubbornly high new cases.The country recorded 179.8 deaths of new infections per 100,000 residents over the last seven days, a new high and significantly more than the 149 per 100,000 reported a week ago by the Robert Koch Institute, the country's disease control center.It also blew past its previous daily total, with Germany's 16 states reporting 952 people had died of the virus, the agency said.