Relaxation of protective measures
NRW ends the mask requirement in schools – but it is not the only federal state
With a mask and test: At some schools, the requirement for mouth and nose protection is being relaxed – testing will be more stringent after the autumn break.
© Christian Charisius / DPA
The incidence among schoolchildren is high and the vaccination rate is low. Nevertheless, some federal states are loosening the mask requirement in class. Experts criticize this step. The rules of the individual federal states at a glance.
“Japan shows with consistent mask requirement that the fourth wave can be fought without lockdown,” said SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach of the “Rheinische Post” with a view to the decision of the state government in North Rhine-Westphalia. The state had recently announced that it wanted to lift the mask requirement in the classroom. The new regulation will come into force on November 2nd, as announced by the NRW school ministry.
According to this, pupils only have to wear mouth and nose protection when they leave their fixed seat and move within the building. The mask requirement for outside areas had been abolished some time ago. There is no mask requirement for teachers as long as a minimum distance of 1.5 meters can be maintained.
The usual corona tests in schools are to be continued according to the previous plans: i.e. three corona self-tests per week at secondary schools and two PCR pool tests per week at elementary and special schools. But NRW is not the only state that is relaxing the mask requirement in schools. The regulations of the individual federal states at a glance:
- Schleswig-Holstein: After the autumn break, the boys and girls initially continued to have one in the school buildings Wear mouth and nose protection have to. The Ministry of Education justified the measure with the increased risk of infection by travelers returning after the two-week vacation. From November this will no longer apply. For children and adolescents who have not been vaccinated or recovered, the obligation to test remains, announced Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) on Tuesday in Kiel. “We kindly ask that everyone handle this step responsibly.” If an infection should occur in a learning group, a daily test and a mask requirement apply there for five days.
- Hamburg: Even after the autumn break Masks are compulsory at Hamburg schools, “in order to reduce the known risk posed by the large number of holiday returnees from abroad”. The division of students into so-called cohorts according to grades remains in the classroom. If it initially applied to primary and special schools, this regulation will also be implemented in secondary schools from November.
- In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Masks are required in schools when the Corona traffic light lights up yellow across the country or level 2 has been reached. If the lesson groups are clearly defined, if the students are outdoors and if a minimum distance of 1.5 meters is maintained, those involved can do without mouth and nose protection. The color of the corona traffic light depends on the hospitalization rate. The state government has currently declared level 2. It is no longer necessary to wear a mask outdoors – however, people in school buildings and on the entire school premises must wear mouth and nose protection.
- Lower Saxony: Inside the building is wearing one Mouth and nose protection compulsory for all grades. In grades 1 and 2, the students can place the masks in the classroom at the seat. Those who cannot wear a mask for medical reasons are exempt from this obligation. However, the schools require proof of this.
- In BremenThere is no mask requirement since the beginning of the school year Beginning of September. The pupils are only obliged if a corona case is found in secondary schools. This does not apply to elementary schools.
- Rhineland-Palatinate: In the first two weeks after the autumn break, students will be tested twice a week – after that only once a week. The regulations at the schools are based on the Warning levels in the individual counties. If a circle is in warning level 1 (incidence of a maximum of 100, incidence of hospitalization of a maximum of 5, intensive care bed occupancy of a maximum of six percent), there is no mask requirement in the field and in the open air. If the incidence increases, the mask requirement is expanded accordingly. Warning level 1 currently applies, Minister Clemens Hoch (SPD) expects an increase until November.
- That Saarland lifted the mask requirement in schools on October 1st. In addition, the students are no longer divided into cohorts. However, that remains Compulsory test persist
- Even Baden-Wuerttemberg has the Mask requirement at schools relaxed. Since October 18, schoolchildren no longer have to wear a mask in their seat – but only if the country is in the basic or warning level. “If the alert level comes into effect, the mask requirement applies immediately again at the place.”
- Bavaria has the Mask requirement in class repealed on October 4th. This also applies if the minimum distance of 1.5 meters cannot be maintained. You don’t have to wear a mask outside, for example in the playground. In the buildings themselves, students from grade 5 must wear a medical face mask. An “everyday mask” made of fabric is sufficient for primary school students. However, that could change again after the autumn break from November 8th. A special meeting is to clarify whether the mask requirement will be reintroduced.
- Thuringia: “Due to the current corona infection events in Thuringia, the cabinet has decided that after the autumn vacation a further incidence-independent security phase will apply at Thuringian schools,” it says on the Ministry of Education page. From November 8th to 24th, students have to be tested twice a week. The mask requirement applies to students from grade 5 and the staff in the buildings and in the classroom. Primary school students only need to wear mouth and nose protection outside of the classroom. In Thuringia, too, the protective measures are based on the current warning level and can be tightened accordingly if the incidence increases.
- In Hesse is the Mask requirement according to the Ministry of Culture in school buildings. Exceptions are the seat, physical education and the playground. The first two weeks of school after the autumn break and after a confirmed Corona case in a school class are excluded from the regulation. Then the mask requirement will be expanded.
- For students in Saxony apply in the new rules for the first two weeks after the autumn break. Between November 1st and November 14th, everyone must be tested three times a week. In the first week of school, a mask is mandatory in the secondary schools. If the corona situation in the state worsens, this regulation can be extended. Basically everyone in the school buildings must wear mouth and nose protection. This regulation also applies beyond the first two weeks of school.
- Saxony-Anhalt: A applies where the minimum distance of 1.5 meters cannot be maintained Mask requirement. This does not apply to lessons. Mouth and nose protection can also be dispensed with outdoors, but students must keep the minimum distance there.
- Brandenburg: One applies to students from the 7th grade, teachers and other staff Mask requirement in the school building. The lower grades up to 6th grade are exempt from this. The following applies to everyone: outside of the building, during sports and music lessons or during longer exams, the mask can be dispensed with. If students do not adhere to the mask requirement, they are not allowed to enter the school. In addition, everyone has to show a negative test twice a week.
- Berlin: One Masks are required for students indoors from the 7th grade. Elementary school students and 5th and 6th graders are exempt from the obligation. Tests are done twice a week. In the weeks from October 25th to November 25th, students have to be tested three times.
End of the mask requirement “educationally useful”
The RKI recently put the seven-day incidence in children and adolescents between 5 and 14 years at 218.1. Some associations had criticized the announced lifting of the mask requirement as risky and premature. From the political opposition, among other things, cautionary voices had come, with reference to increasing incidence values in children and adolescents.
In view of the high number of corona infections, the primary school association also advocates protective measures in the coming weeks. “The testing of children and school staff has to be continued until further notice,” said Edgar Bohn, chairman of the association, to the newspapers of the Funke media group. An end to the requirement to wear a mask in the classroom would make sense from a pedagogical point of view at primary schools, but in the current situation “only justifiable if this is safeguarded with accompanying measures”. The use of room air systems must “ensure the greatest possible safety”. In addition, if the disease increases, the necessary measures must be taken quickly, such as wearing masks again.
Demand for nationwide mask compulsory in schools
The German Teachers’ Association calls for the reintroduction of the mask requirement in schools nationwide. “The number of infections in the schoolchildren’s age group is already at a level that is significantly higher than a year ago,” said association president Heinz-Peter Meidinger to the newspapers of the editorial network in Germany. At that time, “schools would have to close again from mid-December”.
This should be “avoided at all costs”, demanded Meidinger. The mask requirement must be reintroduced, especially in elementary schools. The reason is a lack of a vaccine for children between five and eleven years.
According to Meidinger, the vaccination rate of schoolchildren plays “a very important role” in how long schools would have to deal with restrictions. The more students are vaccinated, “the sooner you can do without a mask requirement and regular tests, the lower the risk that schools will have to switch to distance teaching again”.
With material from DPA and AFP