This article is continuously updated and updated.
After the health ministers of the federal states could not agree on a joint approach, Bavaria went ahead on its own: the mask requirement in local public transport expires in the Free State, from the weekend only one recommendation should apply in buses and trains. That was decided by the Bavarian cabinet in the morning, as BR learned from government circles.
Accordingly, the state government no longer considers the mask requirement to be appropriate due to the current stable infection situation. In Bavaria, the numbers have long been the lowest in all of Germany, it was said as a reason. One orients oneself here at the example of Austria. Personal responsibility will increase in the future.
“Reasonable” or “very questionable” decision?
The Bavarian FDP parliamentary group leader Martin Hagen welcomed Bavaria’s solo effort on Twitter: “A sensible decision!” Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) should now follow the example and “finally” end the mask requirement on long-distance trains. “Anyone who wants to can protect themselves on their own responsibility,” emphasized Hagen.
The SPD health expert in the state parliament, Ruth Waldmann, spoke of a “very questionable” decision when asked by BR. Clinics and medical practices are “overrun by people with respiratory problems”. A collapse is imminent. “What is that for a signal to the clinics?” The state government must “justify very well” the end of the mask requirement on buses and trains, warned the SPD politician. The incidences would have “zero significance”.
Mask requirement on long-distance trains remains
The health ministers of the federal states had not initially found any new agreement on further changes to the corona protection requirements on Monday evening in Magdeburg. The federal states are responsible for the corona rules in buses and trains. In Bavaria, at least one medical mask has to be worn so far.
For buses and trains in long-distance transport, the federal government made FFP2 masks compulsory by law until the beginning of April – in air traffic, on the other hand, it was abolished in September.
Lauterbach criticism of “outbidding competition”
The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had already shown himself open to the elimination of the mask requirement in local transport in mid-November. Schleswig-Holstein also wants to lift the protective measure in the next few weeks.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has repeatedly criticized these plans. This rush is a risk: “Again and again this outbidding competition: Who is the world champion in easing?” Said the SPD politician two weeks ago. That is a bit “very populist” and endangers those who cannot protect themselves so well. Lauterbach, the director of the Robert Koch Institute, tweeted this morning and he saw the situation as congruent: “The clinics are full, there are still too many corona deaths, plus other respiratory diseases. The desire of some countries to now overturn the isolation and the mask requirement, we refused.”