(Credit: Oper Leipzig official website)

The Oper Leipzig and Gewandhaus have announced that they will extend closure until at least Jan. 9, 2022.

The decision has been taken after consultations with the Mayor of Leipzig.

“We have always known that a worsening corona situation requires further measures and are now taking these into account. The focus of all our considerations is primarily the safety and care for our audience and for all employees,” said the Intendant and General Music Director of the Oper Leipzig Ulf Schirmer.

“In close cooperation with the city of Leipzig and the other cultural companies, we are doing our part to be able to experience music theater together again soon,” added Schirmer.

The Government of Saxony has imposed a lockdown until Dec. 12, 2021, forcing all theaters and opera houses to close until that date. The Semperoper has announced closure until Dec. 12, and the decision of the theaters in Leipzig marks the first such extension of a closure into 2022.

Germany is undergoing a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic driven by the highly infectious Delta variant. The country logged 75,961 new COVID-19 cases on Nov. 24, 2021, thus setting a new pandemic record.