Germany taking uptick in coronavirus reproduction rate seriously - ministry

Customers wait outside an IKEA shop after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown has been eased around the country and the company opens some of its stores, in Berlin, Germany, May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German health ministry is taking the most recent rise in the coronavirus reproduction rate in the country seriously but the higher number does not mean there is an uncontrolled outbreak, a ministry spokesman said on Monday.

The Robert Koch Institute for disease control had said the number of people each sick person now infects - known as the reproduction rate, or R - had risen to 1.1. When it goes above 1, it means the number of infections is growing.