Berlin.
Karl Lauterbach is considered an advocate of the mask requirement. But now he is open to ending it prematurely. That’s behind it.
“Dear Karl”, Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann begins his letter to his cabinet colleague Lauterbach on Boxing Day. It’s not a holiday greeting. It is a warning: “In view of the positive development of the pandemic, we should return to the norm and override the nationwide protective measures,” writes the FDP man. Lauterbach had refused for a long time. But now things are moving.
The pressure on the Minister of Health is growing day by day. One federal state after another is currently relaxing the regional corona rules. For the first time, the minister is now indicating an about-face – he can also imagine not waiting until Easter.
In an interview, Lauterbach now concluded a premature end to the Mask requirement in long-distance traffic and in medical facilities. “It may well be that we will abolish the mask requirement earlier,” said the SPD politician to the “Stern”. But he didn’t want to set a date. It is important to monitor the situation very closely and then evaluate it. It is currently “still too early,” said Lauterbach. “We still have full clinics and staff failures.”
Corona rules: When does the mask requirement on the ICE end?
The nationwide corona rules apply until April 7th – essentially it is the obligation to wear a mask long-distance trains and long-distance buses, in medical practices, hospitals and care facilities. Anyone who wants to abolish the rules beforehand does not need either the Bundestag or the Bundesrat: the decision of the federal government is sufficient. But that’s exactly where it got stuck so far. Yet again. Buschmann versus Lauterbach. The FDP right-wing politician against the SPD health protector.
bushman After his Christmas letter, he didn’t let up – and brought a compromise into play: When it became clear that two other states, Berlin and Brandenburg, wanted to end the mask requirement in public transport at the beginning of February, he grabbed his cell phone: “I think the federal government in the should end the mask requirement in long-distance traffic at the same time,” tweeted the FDP man. The idea: first the transport sector, then the health sector. But Lauterbach remains cautious.
His argument: The situation in Germany may be relaxed at the moment – but what about possible variants from China? Or the US? “The new XBB.1.5 variant is driving hospital admissions in the Northeast US. Hopefully we can get through the winter before such a variant can spread to us,” Lauterbach worries. the winter – that is the third argument for the supporters of the mask requirement: As long as the clinics groan under the seasonal virus infections, one does not have to give up reasonable protective measures without necessity.
Conversely, this means: When the wave in China is over, when XBB.1.5 proves to be controllable, when the situation in Germany is foreseeable stable – then Lauterbach could also agree to a faster end for the mask requirement. In any case, he no longer rules it out.
End of the corona mask requirement on long-distance trains: what do experts say?
The medical profession is divided on this issue: the German public health officers are expressly opposed to more Corona loosening before April 7th. Until it is clear how the virus will develop in China in the coming weeks, all existing measures should be retained in Germany. You have to prevent a potentially dangerous variant from spreading unchecked by travelers from China in Germany,” said Johannes Nießen, chief medical officer.
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, on the other hand, relies on voluntary protection and therefore also considers a reduction in the legally binding corona protection measures for reasonable. Others turn their eyes to the sky in annoyance at the pressing FDP: Politicians have more important construction sites than discussing the abolition of the mask requirement for weeks now, only to end it a few days earlier in the end.
Mask requirement and corona isolation: what now applies in the countries?
The federal states can determine a large part of the corona protection measures themselves – for example for buses and trains in local transport, for schools or the question of isolation obligation for infected. Many have already relaxed or will relax in the coming weeks – a patchwork of mask requirements and isolation rules has emerged.
Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria had already lifted the mask requirement in local transport in December, and in Schleswig-Holstein there has only been a recommendation since January. Berlin, Brandenburg, Thuringia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony are now following: In Saxony, the mask requirement is to fall on January 16th. Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will follow on February 2nd, Thuringia on February 3rd.
In Thuringia, the corona isolation obligation will then no longer apply. There is also no uniform line on this point: in Schleswig-Holstein, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, those who tested positive no longer have to isolate themselves. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the rule should be around four weeks after the end of the mask requirement local transport be deleted.
More articles from this category can be found here: Politics
