Berlin, Jun 27 (IANS): A German state has launched a probe to evaluate the legal liability of a slaughterhouse for a fresh COVID-19 outbreak which has so far infected over 1,500 workers, an official said.

"It is currently being evaluated very carefully whether and against which rules the company has violated and where it can be held liable," Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state Armin Laschet told the media on Friday, stressing that he would consider Toennies "as responsible".

In the wake of the outbreak, Laschet criticized the company's lack of cooperation with the local authorities, reports Xinhua news agency.

"There was no cooperation anymore, there were orders," he said.

On Tuesday, Toennies said it would cancel all its subcontract arrangements effective January 2021 and would "quickly create sufficient and appropriate living space" for its employees.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak at the Toennies plant in Guetersloh, severe restrictions have been reimposed in the nearby areas which will remain in force until June 30 in order to protect the population.

By Friday, Guetersloh had recorded around 178 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last seven days, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

A series of recent COVID-19 outbreaks at a number of German slaughterhouses have prompted criticisms of the working conditions in the meat industry and of the use of cramped communal housing for sub-contractors.

In May, the German government adopted an employee protection plan for the entire meat industry.

As of next year, the hiring of sub-contractors as well as labour leasing models would be prohibited for German companies whose main business is slaughtering and meat processing.

Germany has so far reported 194,036 COVID-19 cases, with 8,965 deaths.