Berlin The federal cabinet approved stricter corona protection requirements with new mask requirements in Germany on Wednesday. To protect against an autumn wave of corona, it should again be possible for the federal states from October to impose a mask requirement in shops, for example. FFP2 masks are to be prescribed nationwide on long-distance trains and airplanes. There should also be a mask and test requirement in hospitals and care facilities.
The planned innovations go back to a draft by Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) at the beginning of August. The cabinet decision is now followed by parliamentary deliberations.
The new corona measures should apply from October 1st to April 7th. The previous corona provisions in the Infection Protection Act expire before then. By then, the legislative process for the new rules must have been completed.
A change to the original draft refers to exceptions to the obligation to wear masks, for example in restaurants, which the countries should be able to impose in the future. Planned exceptions for newly vaccinated and recovered people were initially planned as mandatory. Now the exemptions for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered are to be converted into an optional regulation for the federal states.
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Corona plans for the fall
A mandatory exception to the mask requirement should therefore only exist if the person has just been tested. Many federal states had criticized the planned exceptions. On the other hand, one demand from the federal states was not included – namely according to clear criteria as to when a second, stricter standard level applies to the corona measures.
changes in detail
If the situation worsens, the federal states can impose this second stage on the basis of certain legally regulated indicators that demonstrate a danger to the health system. Then the federal states can prescribe FFP2 masks for restaurants and publicly accessible interiors without exceptions, distance requirements, mandatory hygiene concepts and upper limits for persons at events.
>> Read here: “Wearing masks indoors should be the rule” – Lauterbach specifies the Corona autumn plan
A new special payment of 1000 euros per month is also planned so that nursing homes will have to appoint officers in the future to take care of vaccinations, hygiene and therapies for those infected with the drug Paxlovid, for example. The facilities should get 250 euros per month for the effort – for employees who take on the tasks alone or in a team, there should be a total of 750 euros.
The fact that the Federal Minister of Economics did not wear a mask on the plane caused a stir.
(Photo: dpa)
“With this set of tools, we can cope with the foreseeable corona wave in the fall,” said Lauterbach. “We are well prepared for difficult times and give the countries every opportunity to react appropriately.”
Mask requirements, vaccinations and upper limits in the interior could be adapted to the situation. “The goals of our corona policy remain to avoid high death tolls, many lost working days and serious long-term consequences. “
>> Read here: “Inconsistencies in Corona policy”: Government flight without mask requirement triggers debate
There are already discussions in the coalition about the obligation to wear masks on airplanes. The background is the trip to Canada by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens). Images from on board the government plane on the outward flight had caused a stir.
Debate about compulsory masks
It showed Habeck and journalists sitting close together without masks. According to a government spokesman, there is no obligation to wear a mask on Air Force flights. All participants of the trip must present a current negative PCR test before departure. In general, according to the existing Infection Protection Act, masks are compulsory for aircraft.
The Chancellor also said with a view to the cabinet meeting on the Infection Protection Act: He was happy about the very intensive and very timely preparation of the necessary legislation so that the right decisions could be made in the autumn.
The FDP now wants to negotiate relaxation of the protection rules for aircraft. Group leader Christian Dürr made that clear in “Spiegel”. Against the background of the Air Force flight, he asked: “Shouldn’t there also be test exceptions on commercial flights, for example? And what about European uniformity?”
Justice Minister Buschmann said with regard to criticism of the government flight without masks in the ZDF morning magazine: “I can understand the outrage.” On Deutschlandfunk he explained that the pictures gave the impression that different rules applied to the population than to “the up there”. “So it would of course be politically wiser not to make use of such exceptions, if they exist.”
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