Over 650 coronavirus cases at Germany slaughterhouse in new outbreak

More than 650 people have tested positive for the virus at the meat processing plant in Gutersloh, in the north-west of Germany.

The new cluster centers on a slaughterhouse operated by the Toennies Group in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, authorities in Guetersloh county said.

Operations at the site have been suspended since Wednesday afternoon.

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Company officials say it may have been linked to workers taking the opportunity to visit their families in eastern European countries as border controls were relaxed.

Over 1,000 workers have been tested so far, with thousands of others still awaiting testing.

Officials ordered the closure of the slaughterhouse, as well as isolation and tests for everyone else who had worked at the Toennies site putting about 7,000 people under quarantine.

They and the people they came into contact with have been told to been told to remain in quarantine until they receive their results.

Toennies Group in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck|AFP

A spokesman for the company that operates the site, the Tonnies Group, has apologised.

In response to the outbreak, local authorities have suspended schools and childcare centres in the region until the end of the month.

Germany has been widely praised for its managing of the outbreak. Despite having the largest population in the EU, Germany has recorded fewer than 9,000 deaths so far.

On Wednesday, the country announced it would extend a ban on large events until the end of October.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she "welcomed" the measures to prevent the further spread of the virus in the area.