Bavarian residents would then only be able to leave their homes for ‘exceptional’ reasons such as a medical emergency or a job which requires them to be physically present. 

Originally Bavaria decided to enforce such a curfew for parts of the state which had a coronavirus infection rate of more than 200 new cases per 100,000 residents every seven days. 

But now the entire state, Germany’s largest in terms of area, has exceeded that figure, with a current value of 207.4. 

Söder made the announcement Sunday morning following an emergency meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Germany’s 16 state premieres.

Germany decided to close all schools and non-essential shops from this Wednesday December 16th until January 10th. Other measures, such as public consumption of alcohol and a ban on New Year’s Eve fireworks, were also part of the decision.

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“For Bavaria I can say that we will implement the measures fully,” said Söder on Sunday. Schools of all levels and Kitas would shut down completely on Wednesday, he said. 

“Coronavirus is out of control,” Söder said, adding that Germany’s partial lockdown which began on November 2nd “was not enough.”

“If we're not careful, Germany will soon be the problem child in Europe,” he continued. Every three minutes, he said, someone in Germany dies from the coronavirus, people who “would have liked to have had Christmas, too.”