Germany cautiously reopens its economy as coronavirus cases start to fall

Small stores across Germany are now allowed to open their doors on Monday for the first time in nearly a month, under initial measures to cautiously ease restrictions imposed in March as the coronavirus outbreak took hold.

Germans are still required to maintain social distancing and stay at least five feet from one another at all times until the end of April.

“We must not allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a news conference, warning that the consequences of the new measures would be visible only in two weeks’ time.

“That is what makes the situation so difficult.”

On Monday, Germany has recorded one of its lowest rates of new coronavirus cases and virus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the German centre for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute.

The Institute said in its website, 1,774 new infections were confirmed for Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 141,672.

Meanwhile, the country’s death toll climbed by 110 to 4,400, according to the data. An additional 3,500 people recovered from the disease, the data added.