German Chancellor Angela Merkel is warning the coronavirus pandemic is "still at the beginning" as small shops in that country have already reopened, The Guardian reported.

Germany, with the fifth highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world, has managed to keep its death toll at just over 5,000 — far lower than in many other countries — mainly through early and extensive testing, the news outlet reported.

"It is precisely because the figures give rise to hope that I feel obliged to say that this interim result is fragile," Merkel told parliament, The Guardian reported. "We are still far from out of the woods. We are not in the final phase of the pandemic, but still at the beginning."

Christian Drosten, the director of the Institute for Virology at Berlin's Charité hospital, said reopening shopping malls and larger stores could trigger a second wave in May and June, and the country risked "gambling away" its early advantage, The Guardian reported.

Schools in Germany are due to reopen from May 4 and Merkel and state leaders are due to meet again April 30 to review how to proceed after that.

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