Germany recorded a spike in its coronavirus infection rate after starting to gradually relax lockdowns, according to a report.

COVID-19 patients in Germany were infecting an average of 0.7 other people before the country allowed small businesses to reopen earlier this month, Sky News reported.

But following the first step to resuming a normal life, the rate jumped up to 0.96, according to the report.

Experts warned the rate is dangerously close to the golden standard of 1.0 that countries should aim to stay below to keep the outbreak manageable.

“The number should stay below one, that is the big goal,” Lothar Wieler, head of Germany’s disease control center the Robert Koch Institute, said at a press conference.

“The further it is below one, the more secure we can feel, the more leeway we have.”

Wieler said it’s one factor considered in determining whether a country may need to restore stricter lockdown measures.

Other considerations include the testing capacity and the number of new cases per day, he said.

“We don’t want the number of cases to rise again,” he said. “Let’s, insofar as is possible, stay at home, let’s stick to the reduced contact.”

As of Wednesday, Germany had tallied 161,173 cases of the virus and 6,399 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.