Schools reopened after the summer break across the German federal state of Hesse on Monday, against a backdrop of a rapid rise in case numbers across the country in recent weeks.

In the past week, Germany recorded more than 1,000 new cases a day for several consecutive days, with Health Minister Jens Spahn now warning against large family gatherings and events.

The Hessian federal government has issued safety guidelines for schools which include no hugs or handshakes, the disinfection of hands and surfaces and the wearing of masks.

Teachers and students feeling ill are asked to stay home.

A teacher at Falkschule in Frankfurt who spoke to CGTN on Monday, but did not want to be named, said handling the start of the school year in the current circumstances was "hard and quite dangerous."

She said many students attending Falkschule in the central city are from families that have recently returned from travel in other parts of Europe.

The teacher said new entrants would arrive at school for their first day on Tuesday, and would have their welcome initiation outside in the school yard with their parents, as there is not enough space to do it safely inside.

"I hope it does not rain," she added.

At Karl Rehbein School in Hanau, east of Frankfurt, students were welcomed back from the summer break by their headmaster before all disinfecting their hands.

Red placards read "Keep your distance - thank you."

Headmaster Juergen Scheuermann says the school is well-prepared in case of an outbreak.

"Should a coronavirus case occur we would immediately alert health and school authorities and try to identify the group where it happened and pass on the contact information before health and school authorities would then send the affected students home to isolate them," Scheuermann says.

Last week the opening of schools in the country’s capital Berlin saw a spike in coronavirus cases which prompted several schools to close.

Now there are fears of this repeating as the school year begins across the rest of the country.

Last Wednesday, Germany saw its highest daily jump in cases since May and since then more than 1,000 new cases have been reported per day.

Health Minister Jens Spahn says this is partly due to returning travellers from other countries, but there are also local outbreaks - which he says are mostly related to celebrations.

Spahn says there's no point closing retail stores or hairdressers again, but he didn't rule out bringing back restrictions on gatherings.

He says celebrations - particularly those involving alcohol - present high risk of spreading the virus.