Briefly

GERMANY

657 abattoir cases in fresh outbreak

Regional officials in western Germany said on Wednesday that the number of new COVID-19 cases linked to a large meatpacking plant has risen to 657, a significant regional spike for a country that has recorded nationwide infections in the low hundreds lately. Health officials in Guetersloh said they have received 983 test results from workers at the Toennies slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck. Of those, 326 tests were negative. Since the start of the outbreak, Germany has recorded 188,474 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 8,844 deaths. News of the outbreak in Guetersloh came as Chancellor Angela Merkel was meeting with Germany's 16 state governors to discuss progress in tackling the pandemic.