Fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases are being realised after the German government eased lockdown restrictions.
Chancellor Angela Merkel had been under pressure from some of her MPs to open up parts of the country, according to SBS.
Last week, she told reporters: "We are at a point where our goal of slowing the spread of the virus has been achieved and we have been able to protect our health system... so it has been possible to discuss and agree on further easing measures."
Advert
However following that decision, the number of new cases has jumped.
On Sunday (10 May), The Robert Koch Institute noted there had been 667 new coronavirus cases in the country and the death toll jumped by 26.
The next day, 357 cases were recorded and yesterday (Tuesday 11 May) there were another 933 cases, according to the Daily Mail. The death toll also rose by 116 in just 24 hours.
Advert
Germany has the seventh highest number of infections in the world, with 173,273 recorded since the pandemic began.
Each country has been given virus reproduction rate called R. Any rating over R1 indicates cases will rise.
Since the easing of lockdown measures, German's R rating has fluctuated from 1.1 on Saturday before climbing to 1.13 on Sunday. On Tuesday, it dropped below the concerning threshold and was at 0.94.
Advert
Lars Schaade of the Robert Koch Institute said they aren't worried about the jump in cases.
"It is too early to infer whether the number of new infections will continue to decrease as in the past weeks or increase again," he said.
"If the second decimal digit were above 1 that would not yet be critical. But the higher it goes above 1, like 1.2 or 1.3 and over a longer period of time, it would create a situation where we would pay very close attention and think about measures how to countersteer that."
As with the United States and United Kingdom, there have been protests across Germany from people who want the lockdown brought to an end.
Advert
Chancellor Merkel noted that her government is ready to increase restrictions if the number of new cases continues to jump.
But she cautioned that this was to be expected with the reopening of the country.
"It's very important to me to again draw attention to the fact that we're entering a new phase of the pandemic and that it will now be necessary, with all the easing of measures, to be sure that people stick to the basic rules," she said.
Topics: News