BERLIN, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The ban on travel from the United Kingdom to Germany was extended until Jan. 20 over concerns about a highly infectious new COVID-19 variant, the German government announced on Wednesday.

A general ban on travel from the United Kingdom and South Africa to Germany had already been in effect since Dec. 22 last year. The ban applied to direct travel by train, bus, ship and air from these countries, according to the German government.

With a corresponding legal ordinance, the Ministry of Health is seeking to "prevent the spread of variants of the coronavirus to continental Europe," the government noted.

Since the beginning of the year, non-citizens with a right of residence in Germany are allowed to travel after individual approval by the Ministry of the Interior (BMI), according to the government.

Germany has just extended the hard lockdown until at least the end of January and tightened social restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the country.