Germany's health minister said it is too early to say whether restrictions imposed last week to curb the spread of the coronavirus will need to be extended beyond November.

“It is actually too early to assess this now,” Jens Spahn told ARD television. “We will see in the next few days whether they are making a difference.”

The number of new daily coronavirus cases in Germany hit a record of 23,542, bringing the total to 751,095, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases reported.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany's states are due to meet on Monday to review whether partial lockdown measures imposed on November 2 have been enough to slow a steep rise in new infections that risks overwhelming hospitals, according to Reuters.