Angela Merkel on brink as infection rate rises in Germany after lockdown eases

The coronavirus infection rate in Germany has reportedly surged as per the official data, just days after the country eased its lockdown measures. As of May 11, Germany recorded its infection rate percentage above 1 wherein the COVID-19 positive transmitted the disease to more than one person, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Chancellor Angela Merkel was pushed to the brink as the spread accelerated due to the widespread ease of lockdown restrictions that came into effect after discussions with the leaders of 16 states in Germany.  

Germany achieved the goal of slowing the spread of the virus because the citizens behaved responsibly and saved the lives of others, Merkel was quoted as saying while speaking at the press conference. She, however, had warned that the very first phase of the pandemic was over, but it was the overall beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, and there was a possibility of a resurgence, she had added. With the seventh-highest number of coronavirus cases globally, Germany reopened businesses. Further, the country announced that it would gradually return to resuming schools and the Bundesliga - Germany's top football league – over the next weekend, local media reports confirmed.  

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Reproduction rate shot up to 1.13

However, in a report released by the public health agency as of May 10, the reproduction rate shot up to an estimated 1.1, while on Sunday alone, this number increased to 1.13. This raised the administration’s concerns as the country had managed to keep this rate below 1 for most of the last three weeks, reports confirmed. The agency reportedly stated that the RI evaluation involved a degree of uncertainty with respect to the estimated number of cases in weeks to follow, however, the rate would have to be tracked over the next few days. Further, the agency revealed that it was pivotal to track whether a decreasing trend in incident cases over the past few weeks had continued or the case figure sees an upscale surge in weeks to come. 

In its response to the outbreak, Germany earned acknowledgment for its abrupt mass testing and sweeping containment guidelines that had controlled the death toll to far lower than other European nations, as per media reports. However, Merkel's decision to relax those measures had earned backlash after the country suspended “emergency brake”. In the latest, the COVID-19 infection rate spike could imply the start of the outbreak again, according to reports.  

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