Some 60 per cent of respondents said they worried most about the pandemic. Of the whole, 40 per cent are also fearful of its effect on the German economy, the poll by RTL/ntv found.

Longer term concerns such as climate change have been pushed into the background, the poll suggested. Just 10 per cent of respondents called this an urgent problem, compared to 37 per cent last summer.

Migration is a key issue for only 11 per cent of those polled, down from 29 per cent last July/August.

Only among followers of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were concerns about refugees and foreigners living in Germany as serious a problem as the pandemic, with 42 per cent saying these concerns were equally important.

Another poll carried out weekly by RTL about people’s views of the political parties found approval remained steady for the governing centre-right Christian Democrats, with approval at 39 per cent, the same as last week.

The same poll showed the centre-left Social Democrats winning an approval rating of 16 per cent and the Green Party 15 per cent, both the same as last week.

The pro-business FDP gained a percentage point with an approval rating of 6 per cent, while the AfD lost a point, slipping to 9 per cent.

The poll was conducted by public opinion institute forsa and includes data taken from 2,505 people between April 20-24.