(Credit: VisitBerlin website/ Dagmar Schwelle)

Update: The German government has decided to extend the lockdown until March 7, 2021.

The German government will extend the current state of hard lockdown until at least March 14, 2021. The cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is worried about the rapid spread of the new variants of SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus and is planning to further suppress its transmission power.

Angela Merkel and Prime Ministers of German federal states are meeting in order to make the final decision about the extension.

The reopening of shops and hotels might begin in March in areas where the infection rate is low. Hotels, restaurants, theaters, concert halls and opera houses will remain closed.

Germany has entered lockdown in early November 2020. The appearance of the new highly infectious strains of the SARS-CoV-2 from Brazil, South Africa, and United Kingdom is driving new lockdowns in Europe.

The National Health Agency Robert Koch Institute reported new 8,072 daily cases on Feb. 9, 2021.