the Germans have mobilised more resources. They can do 20,000 tests a day, we do 6,000-7,000 a day. Germany tests many more young people - they may be found positive but don't die from it. We test only suspect cases.
However, we should concentrate on the growth rate of daily death count. That's the correct measurement of how the disease develops in each country.
this graph is a week old, you can get an updated one on the ft.com website but it is behind the paywall. You can still make out that Germany is nearer to Italy than the UK (13 days behind Italy).
Germany deaths double every 2 days.
UK deaths double every 3 days.
The rate will slow down slowly but not before hundreds of thousands have died before their time.
BJ and Cummings should get their head round this number.