BERLIN, 23rd March, 2021 (WAM/Reuters) -- Germany has announced extending its lockdown until 18th April and calling on citizens to stay at home for five days over the Easter holidays to try to break a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said early on Tuesday.

"We are now in a very serious situation," she told a news conference, adding that Germany was in a race against time to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus.

Germany started cautiously easing restrictions earlier this month. But the spread of more infectious variants of the virus has pushed up cases, prompting concerns that hospitals could soon be overstretched without further curbs.

The Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases said the number of cases per 100,000 population over a week stood at 107 on Monday, above the 100 threshold at which intensive care units will start running out of capacity. More than 3,000 people with COVID-19 were in intensive care beds as of Sunday.

For five days from 1st April, Germans are to stay at home and reduce contacts as much as possible. But the late-night agreement did not include a closing of all stores, including essential shops like supermarkets, which Merkel had called for.

Big family gatherings will be banned over the holidays, with no more than two households, or up to five people, being allowed to meet. The government will ask churches to hold any Easter services online to avoid gatherings.

Germany reported an increase of 7,709 new coronavirus cases on Monday to 2,667,225, according to the Robert Koch Institute. The reported death toll rose by 50 to 74,714.