MUNICH (Reuters) – The southern German region of Bavaria, which has so far recorded the country’s highest coronavirus death toll, announced on Sunday that it will impose a tougher lockdown from Wednesday until Jan. 5.
People in Bavaria will only be able to leave their homes with good reason, state premier Markus Soeder told a news conference, adding that there would be some relaxation in the rules for Christmas but not for New Year celebrations.
While Germany brought the pandemic under control in March and April, it is now dealing with a more deadly second wave and imposed a “lockdown light” at the start of November, closing restaurants and bars and limiting public gatherings.
While daily infections are no longer rising as sharply as before, case numbers have stagnated at a high level, and Germany reported its highest single-day coronavirus death toll on Wednesday.
On Sunday, the number of confirmed cases rose by 17,767 to 1,171,323, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed, while the reported death toll rose by 255 to 18,772, including 4,289 deaths in Bavaria.
Chancellor Angel Merkel and state leaders agreed on Wednesday to extend national restrictive measures, which include limiting private gatherings to five people from two households, until Jan. 10.
(Reporting by Ursula Knapp; Writing by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Gareth Jones, David Clarke and Giles Elgood)
