"We are in the middle of a rapidly developing pandemic," Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), told reporters.

Mr Wieler said Germans had become "negligent" and urged people to wear masks and respect social distancing and hygiene rules.

In the past week the country has recorded 3,611 new infections.

The warning comes as countries across Europe grapple with new infections and the problem of travellers moving across the continent for the summer holidays.

On Tuesday Germany issued a travel warning for three regions in Spain - Aragón, Catalonia and Navarra - which have seen a recent spike in infections.

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