Status: 01/11/2023 3:46 p.m
It is actually valid until April 7th: Now there are increasing signs that the mask requirement in long-distance transport could fall earlier. Minister of Health Lauterbach no longer rules out a premature end. Pressure is also coming from the federal states.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach no longer rules out an early end to the mask requirement in long-distance transport and in medical facilities. “It may well be that we will abolish the mask requirement earlier,” said the SPD politician to the “Stern”. But he didn’t want to “fix himself on a date”.
It is currently “still too early,” said the minister. He emphasized: “We still have full clinics and staff failures.” It is important to monitor the situation very closely and then evaluate it. Actually, the mask requirement in long-distance traffic and in medical facilities, which is regulated nationwide, runs until April 7th.
Baden-Württemberg is following suit
In local public transport, for which the federal states are responsible in contrast to long-distance transport, more and more states are lifting the mask requirement. Baden-Württemberg has now also announced that it wants to end the mask requirement in local public transport. The State Ministry of Health in Stuttgart said it would expire on January 31.
“This is a logical step in our step-by-step approach to dealing with the pandemic,” said Health Minister Manfred Lucha. “After we abolished the obligation to isolate infected people at the end of last year, we are now taking the next step,” said the Green politician. According to reports, the abolition still has to be coordinated within the government in Stuttgart. The step is considered undisputed between the coalition partners Greens and CDU.
Eight other federal states had previously abolished the mask requirement in local transport. In Saxony, masks will no longer have to be worn on buses and trains from January 16th. The same applies in Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from February 2nd and in Thuringia from February 3rd. The mask requirement has already been abolished in Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein. However, wearing masks is generally recommended.
Also Deutsche Bahn for abolition
Within the traffic light coalition, the FDP is putting pressure on and calling for the mask requirement to be abolished in long-distance transport. The passenger association Pro Bahn joined these demands. “We would very much welcome an end to the mask requirement in long-distance transport,” said the association’s honorary chairman, Karl-Peter Naumann, of the dpa news agency.
“You can’t explain to anyone why you need a mask on the white ICE and no longer on the red regional train.” He called for a uniform regulation. A patchwork quilt only leads to more misunderstanding and more aggression against the staff.
Deutsche Bahn made a similar statement. She advocates an end to the mask requirement in long-distance transport “in the coming weeks,” said the group on request. “As in air transport, we should also rely on voluntariness in long-distance transport.” A patchwork quilt with a wide variety of regulations is “increasingly difficult to convey to passengers and employees.”