Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU party will elect a new leader on Saturday, in a key vote kicking off the race for Germany's top job as a deadly pandemic roils Europe's biggest economy.

Germany's total coronavirus cases topped two million on Friday, as Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for a "significant" tightening of restrictions to slow the infection rate.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders are expected Tuesday to extend a shutdown in Europe's top economy as coronavirus deaths continue to mount despite tough restrictions in the run-up to the holidays.

Germany's "historic" coronavirus crisis will extend into 2021 even if the vaccines bring some hope, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday in her New Year's greetings.

Germany's daily coronavirus death toll has crossed 1,000 for the first time, health authorities said Wednesday.

Germany's health minister further increased the pressure on the European Union's regulatory agency, demanding that it approve a coronavirus vaccine before Christmas, the dpa news agency reported Tuesday.

"Our goal is an approval before Christmas so that we can still start vaccinating this year," Health Minister Jens Spahn said late Monday.

Germany said Friday it would allow deportation of Syrians to their war-ravaged homeland from 2021 if they are deemed a security risk, five years after a massive refugee influx.

The EU's biggest economic power and most populous member allowed in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria's devastating civil war in 2015-16 but security officials said it was time to lift blanket protections against expulsion.

Germany's trend of new infections has taken a worrying turn, the head of its disease control agency said Thursday, as the death toll to date crossed the grim milestone of 20,000.

Germany, once a beacon of hope in Europe's coronavirus nightmare, logged its one millionth case on Friday, as questions emerged over just how much protection is offered by one of the leading vaccine candidates.

Germany on Friday saw its total number of coronavirus infections pass one million, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said.