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The tightening of the access rules in the catering trade will not be in place in Bavaria for the time being. The cabinet agreed to extend the previous 2G rule for restaurants and cafés, as State Chancellor Florian Herrmann (CSU) said in Munich. Gastronomy is already very limited in many areas in Bavaria. There is a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m., and bars and discos in the Free State have been closed for a long time.
Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (CSU) also defended the Bavarian special approach: It was the right decision not to change anything in the catering trade. With a 2G-plus regulation, in his words, eating out quickly during the lunch break would no longer be an option for many. Aiwanger stated that only one percent of the 2G controls in the catering industry were complaints – they had found “a very high level of discipline”.
Corona restrictions will be extended to February 9th
According to Herrmann, the previous corona restrictions in the Free State will be extended “almost one-to-one” for a further four weeks. There are neither “particular tightening nor particular relaxation,” said the head of the State Chancellery. This means, for example, that 2G plus for indoor cultural, leisure and sports activities – as well as a maximum occupancy rate of 25 percent for cultural events.
What is new is that the 2G exception rule for unvaccinated young people between the ages of 14 and 18 who have been tested in school is being extended. They are allowed to go to the restaurants and hotels as well as play sports and make music on a permanent basis if the 2G rule applies to all adults there.
Bavaria leaves the federal-state decision
The federal and state governments had actually agreed on Friday at the Corona summit to introduce 2G plus nationwide in gastronomy. In some countries, for example in Baden-Württemberg, this has been the case for a long time.
However, Bavaria added a protocol declaration to the resolution paper of the Prime Minister’s Conference, in which the Free State distanced itself from further tightening in the catering sector. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) said following the federal-state consultations, he was “very, very reserved”whether 2G plus makes sense in gastronomy. Bayern remain in the “team caution”, but also in the “team sense of proportion”.
Criticism from the SPD and the Greens
From the SPD and the Greens came in advance sharp criticism of the Bavarian Sonderweg. The Greens parliamentary group chairmen in the state parliament, Katharina Schulze, demanded in the morning in the “radioWelt” on Bayern2, the 2G-plus regulation in the catering industry should apply nationwide. With the insistence on 2G for restaurants, Söder switched from “Team Caution” to “Team Recklessness”.
2G plus applies to cultural offers, and capacity there is limited to 25 percent. With the “inn culture” rich 2G, and the restaurants should be full, emphasized Schulze. “You can see that he is no longer making stringent arguments in pandemic management.” The FDP and AfD in the state parliament are meanwhile also against 2G plus in the catering trade.