Germany will go into a partial lockdown from Wednesday with non-essential shops and schools to close in a bid to halt an "exponential growth" in coronavirus infections.
The partial lockdown will apply until 10 January, with companies also urged to allow employees to work from home or offer extended company holidays, under the new measures agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel with regional leaders of Germany's 16 states. "That would help to implement the principle 'we're staying at home'," according to the policy paper agreed by Mrs Merkel and state premiers.
Germans are urged to limit their social contacts to another household, with a maximum of five people excluding children under 14 meeting at each time.