A government finance minister in Germany took his own life over fears regarding the coronavirus, officials in the country reported.

Thomas Schafer was found dead by suicide Saturday on railway tracks near Frankfurt, according to the New York Post.

"Today we have to assume that he was deeply worried," state premier Volker Bouffier said in a statement. "We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad."

Bouffier said Schafer had been worrying "day and night" about how to help companies in the country deal with the financial hardship the outbreak of the coronavirus has brought.

"It's precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him," Bouffier said.

In Germany, 56,202 confirmed cases of the coronavirus were reported as of Saturday, including 403 deaths.

A new report suggested a partial economic shutdown of the German economy could cost the country between 7.25% and 20.6% of gross domestic product.