Cases soar in Germany

New cases of coronavirus infections in Germany have soared to 6,638 in the past 24 hours, official data showed Thursday, reaching a daily level not seen since the start of the pandemic.

The alarming jump in numbers came just hours after Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the leaders of Germany's 16 federal states to agree tougher restrictions designed to slow the spread of the contagion.

The highest number of new cases previously recorded in one day was 6,294, on March 28, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute disease control center.

AFP