Germany records nearly 20,000 new COVID-19 cases

BERLIN (AA) - Germany registered 19,990 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the biggest single-day spike in the country since the pandemic began.

According to the figures released by the Robert Koch Institute, new infections jumped by more than 2,700 over the last 24 hours, up from 17,214 on Wednesday.

Virus-related fatalities were also on the rise, with 118 further deaths.

The national total now stands at 597,583 reported COVID-19 cases, and at least 10,930 deaths.

In Europe, Germany has the fifth-highest tally of infections, ranking behind France, Spain, the UK, and Italy.