Coronavirus: Germany confirms 7,000 new daily infections for first time

Before this week Germany’s highest recorded figure was in late March

Earlier this week, the governments toughened mask-wearing rules and made bars close early in areas where infections are high (EPA)

Germany has confirmed more than 7,000 new coronavirus infections for the first time, its second consecutive daily record.

The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease control centre, said early on Friday that 7,334 new cases were confirmed in the previous 24 hours.

That compares with 6,638 a day earlier.

Until this week, Germany's highest recorded figure was nearly 6,300 in late March, though testing has expanded vastly since then.

Figures tend to peak around the end of the week, but the latest reading underlines a sharp upward trend in recent weeks.

Earlier this week, the federal and state governments agreed to toughen mask-wearing rules and make bars close early in areas where infections are high.

Germany has confirmed more than 348,000 cases in total since the pandemic began, including 9,734 deaths – an increase of 24 compared with Thursday.

In Italy, Campania, which includes Naples, closed schools until the end of the month as the number of infections there surged above 1,000.

Italian health officials have declared the country in an "acute phase" after the country set records for new daily cases higher than even during the March-April peak, when the death toll surged well over 900 in one 24-hour period.

The death toll on Thursday rose to 83, one-third of those in Lombardy, after days hovering at half that nationally.

Associated Press