Berlin.
Mask requirements, isolation, travel restrictions – all of this will soon only exist in exceptional cases. Even those could be gone now.
The pandemic is coming to an end, the last corona rules will fall in the coming days. At least almost everyone: the mask requirement in long-distance traffic will end in the middle of the week, and nobody will have to wear a mask in regional traffic either. Mask requirements, isolation rules, entry restrictions – all of this will soon only exist in a few exceptional cases. And even that can change quickly: This Monday, the very last Corona rules may also be overturned. An overview:
Corona masks are compulsory on trains, buses and trains
The mask requirement in long-distance traffic will no longer apply from February 2nd. In local transport, for which the federal states are responsible, wearing a mouth and nose cover should no longer be compulsory from the beginning of February. The dates vary here – some countries get out on January 31st, some only on February 2nd. Others have already implemented the end of the mask requirement.
The Federal Ministry of Health is promoting the voluntary wearing of a mask for self-protection. Operators of shops, cultural institutions and other businesses can also exercise their domiciliary rights and demand that a mask be worn.
Mask requirement in healthcare
Nationwide, until April 7th, patients and visitors are required to wear masks when entering medical practices, dental practices, dialysis facilities and other healthcare facilities. It also applies when visiting a hospital or a nursing home, as well as for employees in outpatient nursing services. However, whether a resident doctor has to wear a mask in practice or not – the federal states are responsible for this. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have already abolished this rule.
This Monday, at the meeting of the health ministers of the federal states with Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), the question is now on the table as to whether these very last corona rules will really remain in place until the beginning of April as planned or whether they will end sooner. The countries have so far been at odds, with some of the SPD-led governments in particular urging caution. From Lower Saxony, for example, with a view to the mask requirement in practices and clinics, it is said that old and sick people need special protection.
The German Society for Infectious Diseases, on the other hand, is calling for a gradual end to the obligation to wear masks in the healthcare sector – in cancer medicine, in transplantation centers and in particularly vulnerable patient groups, the obligation should remain in place for the time being. Doctors’ representatives and the hospital society, on the other hand, are demanding the complete end of the mask requirement in the healthcare sector. The federal government would be responsible for the abolition of this last rule.
Deadline February 2: Corona rules in the workplace
The last statutory corona rules in the workplace also fall on February 2nd. So far, employers have had to examine home office and test offers for employees as part of a hygiene concept.
Isolation obligation for corona infected people
Here it is the turn of the federal states: Many have long since converted the multi-day isolation requirement for corona infected people into a recommendation. The others are now gradually following suit – in Lower Saxony, NRW and Hamburg, for example, the obligation ends on January 31 and February 1, respectively, while in Berlin the regulation will remain in place for the time being.
Rules for entering Germany
Since June 1, 2022, travelers no longer need proof that they have been vaccinated, have recovered or tested negative. Excluded are people arriving from a virus variant area. Since January 9, 2023, China has been classified as a “virus variant area where a virus variant of concern is threatening to emerge”. Before traveling to Germany, people leaving China must present a rapid antigen test that is not older than 48 hours. This obligation to provide evidence also applies to those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered.
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