Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) used clear words to criticize the abolition of the FFP2 mask requirement in local public transport in Bavaria. In view of the Corona summer wave, the easing was a “clear mistake,” Lauterbach wrote on Twitter on Saturday. “Relaxing into the wave seems illogical and discredits the simultaneous call for more measures by the federal government.”
At the same time, the minister protected his Bavarian colleague Holetschek – and teased the rest of the Bavarian cabinet, including Prime Minister Markus Söder and Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger. Lauterbach wrote in his tweet that he was sure Health Minister Holetschek had been “overruled”. Lauterbach left it open whether this was pure conjecture or an informed statement.
Since this Saturday, only a medical mask has been mandatory on buses and trains in the Free State. “We are thus relying more on the personal responsibility of the citizens,” Health Minister Holetschek said in justification. “In the hot summer months we are experiencing now and under the current pandemic conditions, we think this is proportionate.”
The Bavarian cabinet had decided on the corresponding change in the Corona Ordinance on Tuesday. In other federal states such as Berlin and Hamburg, passengers currently still have to wear an FFP2 mask on buses and trains, while elsewhere a surgical mask has been enough for a long time. The number of corona cases in Bavaria has been increasing again for days.