(Credit: Jan Windszus Photography)

According to sources from Deutsche Welle and Der Spiegel, the German federal government and Prime Ministers of German federal states (Bund und Länder) have agreed to extend the partial lockdown until Dec. 20 2020 at least, with new drastic measures aimed to further curb the second wave of COVID-19 in Germany.

Per the draft obtained by the Deutsche Welle and Der Spiegel, the restrictions will be initially extended until Dec. 20, 2020. A decision for January 2021 is then scheduled for Dec. 15 2020, but the states say they are working on the assumption that restrictions will still be required.

“The wave might have been broken, but the numbers still remain high,” said CSU President and Prime Minister of Bavaria Markus Söder.

The Bavarian head of state also said that he did not foresee the end of the lockdown measures anytime soon.

“If we were to ease restrictions now, then in a week or two we would be in exactly the same situation as we were before the lockdown,” concluded Söder.

Hotels, restaurants, gyms, theaters, cinemas, and casinos will remain closed. Citizens are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible and to avoid unnecessary travel and contacts.

Germany has reached the peak of new daily infections on Nov. 20, 2020, with 23, 648 new cases.