By NewsDesk   @bactiman63

As of April 21, the Robert Koch Institut is reporting (computer translated) 143,457 coronavirus disease, or COVID-19 cases. The death toll in the country is now at 4598.

In Germany and across much of Europe, steps are being taken to reopen some businesses. Germany will be permitting bookshops, florists, fashion stores, bike and car outlets and other shops smaller than 800 sq m are permitted to reopen on Monday morning. In Berlin a few schools allowed final-year students to sit exams. Pupils arrived wearing face-masks and took their seats at widely spaced desks.

This has prompted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to express her concern. “We stand at the beginning of the pandemic and are still a long way from being out of the woods,” she told journalists, saying that it would be a “crying shame if we were to stumble into a relapse with our eyes wide open”.

She also also urged the public to maintain social distancing measures, such as keeping 1.5 metres apart and avoiding gatherings of more than two people, voicing her “scepticism” and “huge concern” over the population’s discipline.