German Chancellor Angela Merkel walks to a press statement prior to meeting with economic and labor unions leaders at the Chancellery on March 13, 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

Germany is the latest European country to seal off its borders in an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak, as the number of deaths in Europe jumped overnight.

As of Monday morning, Germany had shut its borders with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark. Only German citizens, those who reside in the country and work in a neighbouring nation and vice-versa, and physical goods, can cross the German border. Though Berlin is not the first European capital to impose border restrictions, the move marked a U-turn in Chancellor Angela Merkel's policy.

"It's a crisis situation," Friedrich Heinemann, head of public finance at the German-based think tank ZEW, told CNBC about the German decision.

He said there's a "competition" between politicians "to show leadership." "Nobody wants to risk showing that it is less cautious (about the outbreak)," he said.

At the height of Europe's migration crisis in 2015, Merkel defended an open border policy. Speaking Wednesday, the German chancellor called on all European countries to coordinate their approaches rather than take unilateral actions.

Germany has a total of 5,813 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 13 deaths, data from Johns Hopkins University showed Monday morning. Italy, Spain and France experienced the highest daily jump in the number of coronavirus-related deaths Sunday. The latest deaths brought their respective totals to 1,809; 292 and 127, according to Hopkins.