Some federal states such as Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein had already abolished the obligation to wear masks in local public transport.
(Photo: IMAGO/IPA Photo)
Berlin It’s over after almost three years: the nationwide mask requirement in long-distance trains and buses will expire on Thursday. This is also the case in local transport, for which the federal states are responsible. Some federal states such as Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein had already abolished the obligation to wear masks in local public transport.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) justified the step on Wednesday with the current infection process. The previous measures to avoid a large corona winter wave have been successful, he wrote on Twitter.
Therefore, the mask requirement in long-distance traffic can be omitted. Nevertheless, he advised to continue wearing a mask. “Me too,” he wrote. “In order not to risk a Long Covid and to protect others.”
The President of the Society for Pneumology, Torsten Bauer, also advised vulnerable groups to continue wearing a mask on public transport. There will be more infections, but he does not expect this to become a health problem, he said on RBB Inforadio.
“This is another respiratory disease, we will still see corona infections in ten years,” explained Bauer. “However, the pandemic situation is over.”
End of the obligation to isolate
The obligation to isolate has also been lifted in many places. Anyone who becomes infected with the corona virus no longer has to isolate themselves at home in Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt.
In Berlin, people with a positive test have to isolate themselves for ten days.
(Photo: dpa)
Thuringia and Saxony will follow suit in the coming days. Several federal states had already ended the isolation requirement. In Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, on the other hand, those infected with corona must continue to isolate themselves for several days.
Mask requirement in the health sector continues to apply
According to the Infection Protection Act, which is valid until April 7th, masks are still mandatory in clinics, practices and nursing homes. Minister Lauterbach does not want to change this rule for the protection of vulnerable groups at the moment.
The chairwoman of the Marburger Bund doctors’ union, Susanne Johna, also believes that the measure could end earlier. “When the test regulation expires at the end of February, the mask requirement in health facilities should also be checked,” she told the Handelsblatt. The test regulation is valid up to and including February 28th.
“Before the pandemic, protective masks were also worn in hospitals, but limited to wards where particularly vulnerable patients are treated.”
Of course, this will be retained, said Johna. Hospitals should define their risk areas and then decide where protective masks need to be worn. “In other areas, there will no longer be a consistent mask requirement.”
There is still a reduced offer of free citizen tests up to and including February 28th.
(Photo: dpa)
In Bavaria, at least employees in medical practices and other outpatient medical facilities have been able to take off their masks since Wednesday. In addition, several organizations had recently called for an end to the mask requirement in the healthcare sector, including the German Hospital Society, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the German Association of General Practitioners. The health policy spokesman for the FDP, Andrew Ullmann, made a similar statement.
“Nationwide, it would now be time to end all state-imposed pandemic measures,” Ullmann told the Handelsblatt. “Clinics, practices and nursing homes could, as in the past, set and implement their hygiene rules independently again.”
In addition, the FDP politician called for a commission of inquiry “Pandemic” in the Bundestag, “which should analyze the activities of the past pandemic in an objective and technically sound manner and prepare the next steps and activities”.
Citizen tests expire
In addition to the mask requirement in healthcare, there is also a reduced range of free citizen tests until the end of the test regulation. Until then, quick tests from test sites will remain free of charge, even without symptoms, before visiting clinics and nursing homes, among other things.
The entitlement to “free testing” after an infection ceased in mid-January. However, it continues to exist for medical personnel who must be tested before they can return to work. The PCR test is also free of charge if the quick test or self-test is positive in the test centers. In the event of symptoms, the family doctor can also arrange for a PCR test at the expense of the health insurance companies.
The entitlement to “free testing” after an infection ceased in mid-January. However, it continues to exist for medical personnel who must be tested before they can return to work.
(Photo: imago images/Max Stein)
Meanwhile, Austria decided on Wednesday to gradually end all corona measures. From April 30th, the mask requirement in hospitals and nursing homes is to expire. From June 30th, all special provisions should end.
>> Read here: All current developments in the corona crisis in the news blog
Sars-CoV-2 will then no longer be a notifiable disease. The restrictions for people who have tested positive will then no longer exist either. Although infected people do not currently have to be quarantined, they are obliged to wear an FFP2 mask indoors and outdoors when in close contact with other people. All corona crisis teams and committees would be dissolved, it said.
With agency material
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