Also Read | What 2020 did to India’s inequalityThe measures ordered until the end of January have brought about a "flattening of the infections curve", said Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert, noting also that the number of patients in intensive care had also fallen slightly."This trend is cautiously positive and a success of the restrictions of the last weeks," he said."But it only brings us to the point where we still have a long way to go before we can say we have the infections under control," he added.Virus variants first seen in Britain and South Africa also posed major risks to whether the falling infections trend could be sustained, added Seibert.The crisis talks between Merkel and state premiers were brought forward by a week.