(Credit: Klaus Gigga)

The government of Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer has announced that Saxony will enter a lockdown on Nov. 22, 2021. The lockdown will initially last until Dec. 12, 2021.

Theaters, opera houses, museums, cinemas, discotheques, bars, clubs, and saunas will have to close. Restaurants will be allowed to open between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. under the strict 2G rule. All events are banned, including the Christmas markets. 3G rule will go into effect in workplaces.

A curfew between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. will come into force in regions that exceed the seven-day incidence value of 1,000.

The Semperoper Dresden has announced that it will be closed until Nov. 24, 2021, but under the new order by the Government of Saxony will have to remain closed until at least Dec. 12, 2021. The Semperoper thus becomes the second German opera house to close until mid-December 2021, following the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Germany logged 63,924 new COVID-19 cases and 248 deaths on Nov. 19, 2021. President of the Robert Koch Institute Lothar Wieler said that the number of daily infections could actually be two or three times higher than the official tally.