(Credit: Opera Online website)

Oper Köln has announced that it will remain closed until at least March 31, 2021.

The opera house stated that such a decision after broad consultations with the authorities of the City of Köln, and based on the joint decision of the German government and federal states.

The German government has extended the national lockdown until at least Feb. 14, 2021. Many German theaters, concert halls, and opera houses have already closed until April 2021. The Semperoper Dresden has canceled the remaining part of its 2020-21 season and announced its intention to launch an alternative program between April and July 2021.

Germany is undergoing an continuing COVID-19 epidemiological crisis, with 7,652 new daily cases on Feb. 3, 2021. Recently, the country drastically tightened border controls and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned of the increasing danger of the new COVID-19 variants that have been spreading throughout Europe since January 2021.