Status: 07/03/2022 10:49 a.m
According to Minister of Justice Buschmann, the government wants to present a concept for the Corona autumn in July. The mask will also play a role in it, he said. He rejected possible new lockdowns.
According to Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann, the new Infection Protection Act could again provide for a far-reaching mask requirement. “We will probably present a concept later this month. The mask will certainly play a role there,” said the FDP politician to the “Welt am Sonntag”. His principle is “behavior adapted to the situation: If the danger decreases, then you have to withdraw the measures. If the danger increases, then you have to counteract it appropriately”.
Buschmann and his party have so far been skeptical about a renewed mask requirement.
As far as possible access restrictions in public spaces through 2G or 3G rules are concerned, the minister said: “We will have to talk about that now. We also have to take a close look at what effects the vaccines have and under what conditions this could apply.” He is personally skeptical, “but we will now discuss it carefully.”
Clear rejection of lockdowns
Buschmann clearly rejected new lockdowns. “For all we know, lockdowns, school closures and curfews are no longer proportionate today, in my view.” Such measures could only be taken, if at all, in the early stages of a pandemic. “Now we are in the third year. And if we know today that these measures have a very bad cost-benefit profile, then we should finally say goodbye to them,” he said.
With a view to the report presented on Friday by a committee of experts on the effectiveness of previous protective measures, the minister said: “Our duty to ensure that there is a reasonable legal basis and to use the knowledge available, as well as our respect for this evaluation body, mean that we are only now Evaluate this report. Then we’ll take a look.”
Committee of Experts: Criticism of data situation
In its report on the Corona measures in Germany, a committee of experts criticized the data situation and the occurrence of restrictions on fundamental rights on Friday. According to their own statements, the experts were therefore unable to evaluate individual measures – with one exception: wearing a mask indoors was rated as useful for reducing the incidence of infection. As far as 2G rules and school closures are concerned, the committee did not make any clear statements.
After the evaluation report was presented, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach and Minister of Justice Buschmann began deliberations on the new Infection Protection Act. Lauterbach had already spoken for an hour and a half on Friday in “topics of the day”– Interview said. “We will very quickly come to regulations that better protect citizens in autumn and winter,” said Lauterbach. “People want good protection, they deserve good protection. And we have to offer it.”
At the same time, he warned of a sharp increase in the number of corona infections in autumn. “I think we’re going to have a lot of trouble with the BA.5 variant that’s spreading here now.”