Lockdown: The federal and state governments decide to extend the lockdown until March 7th

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The lockdown to combat the corona pandemic in Germany, which is limited to mid-February, is to be largely extended until March 7.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the state leaders agreed on this at their video conference on Wednesday, according to their decision paper.

Hairdressers can reopen on March 1st, regardless of the lockdown extension, provided they strictly observe hygiene requirements.

There will be no nationwide uniform regulation for the opening of schools after the extensive closure in the corona lockdown.

Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) warned against loosening too quickly during the negotiations between the federal and state governments.

Past pandemics have shown that whenever you get careless, "then the great misfortune happens," Kretschmer told journalists on Wednesday evening.

The negotiations were still ongoing.

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The federal and state governments have agreed on “moderate steps” for hairdressers, schools and day-care centers, said Kretschmer.

From a seven-day incidence of less than 35 in March, there should be further easing, for example in retail or gastronomy.

This should be discussed in March.

The video conference between the Prime Ministers of the federal states and Chancellor Angela Merkel began around 3 p.m. with a delay of around 50 minutes.

In the negotiations, Merkel pleaded for daycare centers and elementary schools to be opened on March 1, but could not prevail.

According to information from WELT, she was also in favor of teachers being preferred to vaccinate.

The deliberations begin with uncertainty about the mutations

According to the RKI, the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants reported within seven days (seven-day incidence) was 68 nationwide on Wednesday morning. The value was last at this level on October 24 (68.4).

A seven-day incidence of less than 50 was last seen on October 20 (48.6).

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Virus mutations B.1.1.7 from Great Britain and B.1.351 from South Africa also play a role in the deliberations.

The Federal Ministry of Health has summarized the state of knowledge on the spread of the virus variants in selected countries in a two-page paper that is available to WELT.

According to this, the data situation is still inadequate in five out of fifteen studies in thirteen countries, and in seven surveys the data are of limited significance.

The assessments from Denmark, where around twenty percent of the new infections have the British variant, from the United Kingdom itself and from Tyrol, where the South African variant was found 296 times, are considered “good”.