The 3G rule will also apply to employees with customer contact in the future
Tuesday, October 12th, 1:57 p.m .: In all areas in Bavaria where the 3G rule applies, not only visitors but also all employees with customer contact must adhere to the rule from Tuesday (October 19). The cabinet decided on Tuesday in Munich. Operators, employees and volunteers who have contact with customers and visitors must also be vaccinated or recovered from a corona infection, or they must regularly show a negative test. Depending on the area, this must be a PCR test, or a quick test is sufficient. The employees concerned must present the test certificate at least two days a week. The 3G rule applies, among other things, to public and private events, in sports facilities, fitness studios, theaters, operas, concert halls, cinemas, museums, exhibitions, in restaurants, hotels, universities, at meetings and congresses, libraries and in various leisure facilities, for example in baths and cable cars. In future, not only visitors but also all employees will have to adhere to this rule when they have contact with customers. If operators and organizers only grant access to vaccinated and tested persons (2G) or require a PCR test (3G plus), the stricter rule will also apply to employees in the future.
Obligation to record contact data is omitted across the board
Tuesday, October 12th, 1:21 p.m .: In Bavaria, from Friday, October 15, the obligation to collect contact data will no longer apply across the board. In the gastronomy and cultural events in particular, customers and visitors no longer have to provide personal data due to Corona. The cabinet decided on Tuesday in Munich.
Accordingly, contact details only have to be recorded in priority areas “with a high risk of multiple infections (spreading)”. According to the cabinet decision, this includes all closed events with more than 1000 people, clubs, discos, brothels “and comparable leisure facilities” as well as gastronomic offers with dance music. The data also still has to be recorded for body-related services and in communal accommodation (such as dormitories in youth hostels or mountain huts).
Incidence almost constant
Tuesday, October 12th, 7.18 a.m .: According to the Robert Koch Institute, the seven-day incidence in Bavaria is 92.3. On Monday it was 92.6. The hospital traffic light is still green. The Upper Bavarian districts of Berchtesgadener Land (262.4) and Traunstein (238.8) still have the most new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days. The city and district of Rosenheim follow with 223.3 and 207.9. In Munich the value is again below the 100 mark at 91.0.
Corrected vaccination numbers: Holetschek demands RKI report
Monday, October 11th, 6:54 p.m .: In view of corrected vaccination numbers, Bavaria’s head of department Klaus Holetschek (CSU) calls for a report from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in the next line of health ministers. “We need clarity and truth in the question of the data,” said Holetschek on Monday after discussions with his colleagues in the department.
According to a new RKI evaluation, the corona vaccinations in Germany are probably already further recorded in the reporting statistics than before. It can be assumed that up to 84 percent of adults have already been vaccinated at least once and up to 80 percent fully, according to a current RKI report dated October 5th. This would correspond to vaccination rates five percentage points higher than according to official reports from the vaccination centers.
Holetschek now wants to know from the RKI how the data got into the system, where there were any deficits, whether it was due to a lack of data from company doctors, for example. That is why RKI President Lothar Wieler was invited to the next switch , to clear things up. “That will certainly be a lesson from the pandemic as a whole, that in my opinion we have not been very successful with the data base so far and that we urgently need to make improvements,” added Holetschek.
Most of the students at Bavaria’s universities are vaccinated
Monday, October 11th, 3:22 p.m .: According to the Minister of Science Bernd Sibler (CSU), the winter semester at Bavarian colleges and universities can start without major corona-related restrictions. Around 80 percent of the students have already been vaccinated, and about ten percent have recovered, said Sibler on Monday in Munich. That is a high value that stabilizes operations at the universities.
Random checks are intended to ensure that everyone complies with the 3G rule, i.e. that they are either vaccinated, recovered or tested negative. The minister announced that there would be close controls here. So far there have been no problems. At the Technical University in Deggendorf, out of the 4,000 people on campus, only seven could not have provided evidence. Tests are only free for students until November 30th. A mask requirement also applies where distances cannot be maintained. This will be checked in the course of the semester, said Sibler.
Around 409,000 young women and men are currently enrolled in the Free State, including almost 65,000 freshmen. Sibler hopes that after three digital semesters everyone can come back to the universities. Presence is what the course is all about. In addition to acquiring knowledge and skills, it is also about friendships, networks and relationships, on every level. Very large lectures would often continue to be offered digitally. The rule, however, will be presence, especially at smaller events.
At the universities of applied sciences and technical universities, lectures began on October 4th. The universities will follow on October 18, and the art schools will start on different dates.
Holetschek: “Vaccination is the way out of the pandemic, not testing”
Monday, October 11th, 9:08 am: Bavaria’s Minister of Health Klaus Holetschek (CSU) has defended the end of the free corona tests. “Vaccination is the way out of the pandemic, not testing,” he told Bayerischer Rundfunk. “We now have the possibility of vaccination, then I think it is consistent to say on the other side that we are reducing the free of charge for certain tests and that they are no longer billed at the expense of the solidarity community.”
With a view to autumn and winter, Holetschek emphasized that the pandemic was not over yet. He appealed to all unvaccinated people to get vaccinated in order to “make a contribution for themselves, but also for society as a whole”. For the majority of citizens, the possibility of the free corona test ends in the new week. The reason is that the federal government’s funding has expired. But there are a number of exceptions.
Incidence rises to 92.6
Monday, October 11th, 7:08 am: According to the Robert Koch Institute, the seven-day incidence in Bavaria has risen to 92.6. On Sunday it was 91.3. The hospital traffic light is still green. As before, the Upper Bavarian districts of Berchtesgadener Land (248.3) Traunstein (237.8) have the most new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days. The city of Rosenheim has now moved ahead of the district of Rosenheim (209.0) with an incidence of 218.6. In Munich, the value of 101.3 is still just above the 100 mark. The city of Kaufbeuren reports the lowest incidence in the Free State of 26.9.
No more free corona tests for the majority of Bavarians
Sunday, October 10th, 5:57 p.m .: For the majority of citizens, the possibility of the free corona test ends in the new week. The reason is that the federal government’s funding has expired. But there are a number of exceptions, as Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) made clear in advance. Anyone who goes to the doctor with symptoms still does not have to pay for the test. The same applies to children under the age of twelve as well as to people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
There are also various transition periods up to December for students, young people who are not of legal age, and expectant and nursing mothers. Citizens who have not been vaccinated or have recovered and want to attend an event or facility to which the so-called 3G rules apply, have to pay for the tests from Monday. In the background there is the hope that the willingness to vaccinate could increase if the non-vaccination becomes noticeable in the wallet. Health Minister Holetschek has repeatedly appealed to citizens in recent months to get vaccinated.
Bavaria continues negotiations on Russian vaccine
Sunday, October 10th, 8.09 a.m .: After the approval of vaccine production at the German subsidiary of the Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm, the Bavarian state government intends to continue negotiating the purchase of the Sputnik V vaccine. This said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health. “So far, no purchase agreement has been signed, and no purchase price payments have been made,” she stressed, however.
Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) announced in April that he wanted to buy 2.5 million doses of the Russian corona vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet approved the vaccine, so it cannot be used in Germany. There are only national approvals in Hungary and Slovakia in the EU.
The EU approval is an essential criterion for a purchase of the agent by the Free State, said the ministry spokeswoman. When the European Commission will decide on this is not yet foreseeable. The ministry also informed Bayerischer Rundfunk that the costs of a possible Sputnik purchase were still unclear. The Greens parliamentary group leader in the state parliament, Katharina Schulze, called the adherence to Sputnik wrong. “Söder should rather put his energy into increasing the vaccination rate,” she wrote on Twitter. There is no shortage of vaccine, but Bavaria is still at the bottom of the list.
Holetschek and doctors call for flu vaccinations
Sunday, October 10th, 7.45 a.m .: Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) and Bavaria’s doctors call on citizens to get a flu vaccination. “In addition to the fight against the corona virus, we must not underestimate the classic flu,” said Holetschek on Sunday. “The cold season starts now.”
Above all, people over 60, expectant mothers from the second trimester of their pregnancy, people with underlying diseases and medical staff should be vaccinated against the flu, said Holetschek. According to the Standing Vaccination Commission, vaccinations against flu and corona can be carried out at the same time. The State Medical Association fears a combined wave of Covid-19 infections and colds. If Covid-19, virus flu and other colds set in en masse, practices, hospitals and intensive care units could become overloaded, warned Medical Chamber President Gerald Quitterer.
There was no flu epidemic in autumn and winter 2020. There were only 78 cases, presumably also because of the corona restrictions. In 2019/2020, however, 55,231 flu infections were reported. “The flu can return this year,” warned Health Minister Holetschek. Experts fear that there could be another major flu wave this fall.