An outbreak of fresh coronavirus cases in a meatplant in Germany has prompted officials to bring back lockdown restrictions. 

The return to lockdown comes after a slaughterhouse in Rheda-Widenbrueck led to the infection of more than 1500 people, forcing thousands back into quarantine.

Governor of the North Rhine-Westphalia state, Armin Laschet, said that those living in the Guetersloh should limit contact to their own household with the exception of one person from outside.

Additionally, it has been said cinemas, fitness studios and bars in the region will be closed.

Meanwhile, in other large countries that have been lifting lockdown the number of global coronavirus cases has continued to surge.

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India has recorded about 15,000 new infections each day, with certain states considering fresh lockdown measures to try to halt the spread of the virus to its 1.3 billion population. 

The Indian government earlier lifted a nationwide lockdown in a bid to restart the country's ailing economy, where millions of jobs have been lost.

Hospitals in Pakistan are turning away patients, but with the economy there teetering, the government remains determined to reopen the country.

New cases have also shown a steep rise in Mexico, Colombia and Indonesia.

Brazil, with more than 1.1 million cases and 51,000 deaths, has been affected more than anywhere except the US, which has reported more than 2.3 million cases and 120,000 deaths, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

In the US, surges in cases across the south and west of the country are sparking fears that progress is slipping, as states reopen and many Americans fail to wear masks or practice social distancing. 

Coronavirus graphic(PA Graphics)

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it took more than three months for the world to see one million confirmed infections, but just eight days to see the most recent one million cases.

“The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself; it’s the lack of global solidarity and global leadership,” he said during a video conference for the Dubai-based World Government Summit.

Even some countries which have had initial success in stamping out the virus, like Germany, are finding pockets of resurgence.

In Australia, Victoria state reported 17 new cases, resulting in the closing of two primary schools in Melbourne.

The outbreak in New YorkCustomers dine outside Casa Mezcal as New York City begins to reopen stores (AP)

State premier Daniel Andrews said there would be significant community transmission among the new cases.

China reported 22 new cases, including 13 in Beijing, a day after a city government spokesperson said containment measures had slowed the momentum of a new outbreak in the capital which has infected more than 200 people.

South Korea has reported 46 new cases, including 30 linked to international arrivals.

The country has been struggling to stem a resurgence of the virus in the Seoul metropolitan area, where hundreds of infections have been linked to entertainment and leisure activities, church gatherings and low-income workers such as door-to-door salespeople and warehouse workers who could not afford to stay at home.

A mall in YokohamaShoppers at a mall in Yokohama, near Tokyo (AP)

South Korea also said it was testing 176 workers at the southern port of Busan following a virus outbreak among crew members of a Russian cargo ship which has so far sickened 16.

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Worldwide, more than nine million people have been confirmed as infected by the virus and more than 472,000 have died, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

Experts say the true numbers are much higher because of limited testing and cases in which patients had no symptoms.