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Magdeburg (dpa / sa) - About one in three children in Saxony-Anhalt who goes to day care centers, kindergartens or after-school care centers is currently receiving emergency care.

The childcare quota as of January 19 was 31.4 percent, the Ministry of Social Affairs announced on Thursday upon request.

The need for emergency care seems to increase with the length of the lockdown: Last week only 28.3 percent of children were in emergency care.

In total, the parents of 45 886 children took advantage of the offer, 10 365 or around 22.6 percent of them were school children who were cared for in the after-school care center.

The proportion of after-school care children remained almost unchanged compared to the previous week.

According to the ministry, a total of 146 036 children are currently registered in a crèche, kindergarten or after-school care center in Saxony-Anhalt.

The federal and state governments agreed on Tuesday to extend the lockdown until at least mid-February.

Schools and daycare centers should also remain closed, but emergency care is available for children of parents in systemically important professions.

In order to enable the parents to organize the care of the children independently in the closest environment, the contact restrictions for families on Monday are to be relaxed somewhat.

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A household may still only meet with one outside person.

Children under three years of age are no longer counted in Saxony-Anhalt.

It is also allowed that families support each other and children from up to two households are cared for together.

Social minister Petra Grimme-Benne (SPD) said on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting that people are asked to form fixed support groups.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210121-99-120655 / 2