Border checks banning almost all people from entering Germany from over a dozen places flagged due to coronavirus variants, have been extended until next month, as isolated cases fuel concerns that the British mutation is spreading further in the country.
The entry bans, which made headlines in recent days due to travel chaos at the border with the Czech Republic, had initially been set to stay in place until February 17.
Cabinet ministers agreed on Tuesday to extend the rules until March 3.
The bans affect countries and regions placed on the government's list of "areas of variant of concern."
Only German nationals and residents can enter from those places, with exceptions also for some key workers and logistics.
Countries such as Britain, South Africa and Portugal are on the list. The Czech Republic and the Austrian region of Tyrol were added at the weekend.
The British strain of the coronavirus - or B117 - is one of three variants of concern that have been identified within Germany by the country's agency for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
Earlier this month, RKI president Lothar Wieler reported that the B117 variant had been found in 13 of Germany's 16 states and made up just under 6 per cent of cases - although he warned that that figure would likely rise further.
The German government recently boosted resources to laboratories for sequencing work, in order to get a clearer picture of the spread of coronavirus variants in the country.
On Monday, a Bulgarian man who had been working on a construction site in the western city of Hamm was found to be infected with the British strain, which is considered more infectious.