Dusseldorf.
From February 1st, masks will no longer be compulsory on buses and trains in North Rhine-Westphalia. This was announced by the Ministry of Health on Friday.
In NRW, too, masks will soon no longer be compulsory on buses and trains. From February 1st, the protective measure against the spread of corona will be abolished, the NRW Ministry of Health announced on Friday.
NRW is thus following other federal states that also want to abolish the mask requirement or have already abolished it. Most recently, the NRW Ministry of Health extended the Corona Protection Ordinance until the end of January in mid-December and retained the mask requirement in public transport.
Corona: NRW will remove the obligation to wear masks in public transport from February 1st
The obligation to wear a mask on buses and trains in NRW local transport is no longer applicable more than two and a half years after it was introduced. “Of course, those who want to protect themselves can wear a mask voluntarily,” said the spokesman for the NRW Ministry of Health. The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia will decide on further possible adjustments to the corona protection measures, in particular the obligation to isolate, “in good time before the current Corona Protection Ordinance expires.”
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the number of reported new corona infections in NRW has fallen significantly. 3702 cases were reported on Friday; the 7-day incidence has dropped to 133.1. A total of almost 7.86 million cases of infection have been counted in NRW since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
From February 2nd, masks will no longer be mandatory nationwide in long-distance traffic
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) also recently announced that the mask requirement should also be abolished in long-distance train and long-distance buses: From February 2nd, mouth-nose masks will no longer be worn nationwide in long-distance public transport on trains and buses regulation.
The federal states of Berlin, Saxony, Thuringia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg announced on Tuesday that they Mask requirement want to abolish in regional public transport. Baden-Württemberg followed suit on Wednesday. In addition to long-distance traffic and NRW, the federal states of Hesse, Lower Saxony, Saarland and Bremen followed on Friday.
(dae, with dpa)
More info can be found here: Mask requirement in public transport: This applies in your federal state
More articles from this category can be found here: State politics
