Employers will also be asked to allow their staff to work from home.
Nationwide calls for a hard lockdown have intensified over the past few days as infections and deaths continue to skyrocket. On Friday the Robert Koch Institute counted 30,000 cases and 600 deaths within a day, a grim milestone.
Several Länder, including Bavaria and Saxony, have already tightened restrictions by putting a curfew into place, but a nationwide rule is now applied to really curb further spread. Merkel met on early Sunday with the prime ministers of all sixteen Länder.
Earlier this week, Merkel made an emotional appeal to all citizens to minimise contacts in the coming weeks, or otherwise “it could be the last Christmas for grandpa and grandma,” she said.
Five people from two different households in total will be able to meet during Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Merkel had said it should not become a “Christmas of loneliness”.
