The number of new coronavirus infections in Germany over the past 24 hours has risen by 770, the highest daily toll in a month, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control says.
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The last time that the daily number of new infections was higher was on May 20, when 797 people tested positive.
Friday's figure takes the total number of people who have had or currently have the virus to 188,534.
One of the reasons for the spike is an outbreak in a slaughterhouse belonging to the Toennies Group, a major name in the German meat industry.
The local municipality, which has been forced to close schools and daycare centres, reported 730 new cases late on Thursday.
The slaughterhouse outbreak has prompted a debate in Germany about the working and living conditions of meat industry workers, many of whom are temporary labourers from eastern Europe.
RKI said on Friday that 16 people had died as a result of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking Germany's total death toll to 8872.
Australian Associated Press
