Coronavirus cases are rising in Germany again just days after it relaxed its national lockdown

• Coronavirus cases have begun to rise in Germany again just days after the country's national lockdown was loosened.
• Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Wednesday that schools and shops would re-open.
• However, the number of cases is beginning to rise again, according to the latest official data.
• The reproduction rate for the virus has risen to an estimated R-value of 1.1, risking exponential growth.
• Merkel has pledged to reimpose lockdown restrictions if the virus makes a comeback
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The number of infections in Germany has started to rise again, just days after lockdown restrictions were relaxed in the country.

Chancellor Merkel announced on Wednesday that all shops in the country would be allowed to re-open, with schools and sports events also gradually returning.

However, the latest official data shows the reproduction rate for the virus has now risen back to 1.1, meaning that Merkel's government could be forced to reimpose previous restrictions.

Epidemiologists say that countries risk exponential growth in the number of cases whenever the so-called R rate rises above 1

Merkel on Wednesday imposed an "emergency brake", meaning that former restrictions will have to be re-introduced at a local level in areas where coronavirus cases rise above a threshold of 50 people per 100,000.

While acknowledging "a degree of uncertainty" to their latest daily estimate, the federal Robert Koch Institut said that there should now be "close monitoring of the situation in the coming days," to prevent another surge in cases.

Germany has suffered a significantly lower death toll than other comparable European nations, with experts suggesting the country's early lockdown and mass testing regime helped to limit its spread.

However, the national lockdown has begun to fray in recent weeks with individual states unilaterally loosening restrictions.

Protests have also broken out in recent days over the continuation of some restrictions.