COVID: Germany extends lockdown until March

COVID: Germany extends lockdown until March

Germany's federal government and state leaders agreed on Wednesday to extend the nationwide shutdown until March 7, beyond the previous February 14 deadline.

Though overall infection numbers in the country are declining, concern is rising about new variants.

The current shutdown began in November and was extended and toughened before Christmas, with the number of COVID-19 patients threatening to overwhelm hospitals. A leaked draft statement on Tuesday stated that Germany had made progress in curbing the rate of infection.

What do we know so far?

Following Wednesday's summit, Saxony State Premier Michael Kretschmer said the relaxation of restrictions would be discussed when the seven-day case index drops below 35 cases per 100,000.

"We will talk about that in March. Everyone should remain cautious: We don't want to be careless,“ Kretschmer said.

A decision paper released after the meeting said Chancellor Angela Merkel and the state leaders would meet again on March 3 to assess the situation.

Other measures that were discussed included:

What are the current rules?

Despite decline, variants pose concern

Germany's national disease control center last week said that the more contagious variant of the virus first observed in Britain has now been seen in most of Germany's 16 states.

Another variant from South Africa has also been reported several times in Germany.

"Considering the virus mutations,