Students have suffered particularly from the restrictions during this pandemic. For months, the corridors and lecture halls of the Technical University in Garching were deserted. Now some normality should return from Monday, albeit very carefully. As in all of Bavaria, the 3G access rule does not apply to teaching, says TU press spokesman Ulrich Meyer; Until further notice, according to Meyer, the “clear and urgent recommendation to wear an FFP2 mask in all rooms” applies if the minimum distance of 1.50 meters cannot be maintained. So the duty becomes the advice.
It will be an unusual, sometimes frightening picture for many people to see free faces indoors again – in the supermarket, at the bakery, in the sports hall, in the swimming pool. But there are also many people who are relieved that the mask is falling. The SZ asked around.
Maskless in the beer garden – many will taste the mass beer even better now.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
In the tavern
No mask, no G, no distance – “everything is like it used to be,” says operations manager Achim von Bebenburg. The Corona rules are falling and the Wilder Hirsch restaurant in Gräfelfing is participating. Guests and service staff can wear a mask voluntarily, but there is no longer any obligation to do so, says von Bebenburg. However, a Corona regulation remains in place: the guests are assigned a place in the garden. This has proven itself organizationally during the pandemic. Von Bebenburg sees the abolition of regulations as a clear reduction in workload. Above all, there is no incoming inspection, in which vaccination or test certificates had to be checked. “We now have time again for the guests and not for control.” Another plus is that more guests can come again because the distances are no longer necessary and the bar tables can be set up again. There is no fear of infection in the wild deer. The service staff was vaccinated and most employees were also infected. “We have already overcome the shortage of staff.”
In the hall
At TSV Ismaning, they took the new legal basis very seriously – and called a board meeting on Friday to set clear and binding rules for all departments. “We will continue to have an obligation for spectators in the hall to wear an FFP2 or surgical mask and enforce this through our house rules,” says Chairman Alexander Novakovic, who also heads the handball division. As far as access restrictions using the 2G or 3G rule are concerned, the club continues to adhere to the political requirements: “We do not have admission controls at most events,” says Novakovic. The basketball department is an exception, here those responsible want viewers to continue to present proof of vaccination or recovery. “We’re taking a close look at how things are leveling off, including what the other clubs are doing. And then we’ll adjust or relax further if necessary, depending on developments,” says Novakovic.
In the supermarket
Customers no longer have to wear masks when shopping either. Now it is up to you to take personal responsibility. Because if you ask around at supermarkets in the district, you don’t want to impose a mask requirement yourself. Of course, you want to keep an eye on further developments.
The Rewe markets, of which there are also some in the district, will “uniformly implement the orders made by the authorities”, i.e. the omission of the mask requirement, as Thomas Bonrath, press spokesman for Rewe-Markt GmbH, says. Plexiglas partitions and distance markings in the checkout area will also be retained. Something like putting up signs asking customers to wear mouth and nose protection is “not currently planned,” he says. You want to handle it differently with your own staff. “We recommend that our employees wear a mask on a voluntary basis,” says Bonrath. At the same time, he wants to “observe further developments”. Cornelia Schlund, head of the Tagwerk Arkade organic market in Ottobrunn, will do a similar thing. She wants to “leave the decision to wear a mouth and nose protector to the customer”. Because these are very different: some cannot wait to leave the mask off. Others are very careful despite the mask. According to Schlund, the opinion of the staff to continue wearing the protection dominates. “I am very happy about that.” Because if many customers came without a mask, staff got sick and failed, it would be difficult. She is also thinking about possibly regulating the number on days with many visitors. You have to see how the customers behave. “It takes a sure instinct now,” she says.
In the district office, masks must continue to be worn in the meeting areas.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
At the district office
In principle, District Administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) approves of the easing of the corona measures, and the elimination of the obligation to wear a mask indoors is also the right step. “Yes, you can take the risk,” said the district administrator, the responsibility belongs back in the hands of the people. “It is important that we accept responsible citizens in our legal system,” says Göbel; it must also be accepted if someone wants to get sick, even if they die from the disease.
Nevertheless, Göbel has decided to maintain the FFP2 mask requirement for his house. “To protect the employees,” as he says. “I think it’s important that masks continue to be worn, not in places, not at meetings, but in corridors where people meet.” But there will no longer be a 3G rule for visitors.
And Göbel reiterated that, from his point of view, the general obligation to vaccinate is the key to ending the pandemic: “I would limit freedom there, but not anywhere else.”
In the town halls
The municipalities are dealing with the new regulations in different ways. In many places, the mayors are making use of their domiciliary rights and continue to require mouth and nose protection to be worn in the town hall, but not everyone insists on FFP2 masks. In Unterhaching, people are “not exactly happy that the responsibility for protection against infection is being largely shifted back to the companies and departments,” as city hall spokesman Simon Hötzl reports. Because from the point of view of the Unterhachinger administration, “in view of the high incidence, it is not responsible to lift all protective measures.” There are currently larger gaps in the workforce and there is no trend reversal. The FFP2 masks will therefore remain on until the end of the Easter holidays on April 24th. In addition, 3G continues to apply for access. This is not the case in Straßlach-Dingharting, but the wearing of masks is still insisted on here. This is also how Neuried handles it, with the only difference that surgical masks are also permitted here. The town hall in Garching issues the same regulations, where you can also come in with medical masks from Monday. In Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn, only children and young people up to the age of 15 are allowed to do this. Those who are older must wear FFP-2.
In the field of culture
At the Kulturamt Unterschleißheim they take the liberty not to exhaust every possible freedom at first. In other words: not to let all masks fall. “Balance is important to us,” says Ina Eigner-Konrad from Forum Unterschleißheim. In concrete terms, this means: On the one hand, the 2-G rules are no longer applicable in the community center (as well as in the other municipal facilities), but there is still a mask requirement. As far as room occupancy is concerned, the capacity is currently capped at 200 spectators, there will continue to be certain distance rules. “Of course, we also want to gradually increase capacity utilization,” says Eigner-Konrad. But this is happening gradually and the main idea is that visitors should feel as safe as possible. How things will continue will be shown, decisions will be made at short notice, the pandemic has taught us to be flexible.
However, there is no uniform procedure in the cultural sector, some municipalities are more cautious, some more free, the house rules apply. In the Pullach community center, for example, it is not mandatory to wear a mask in the square, but it is recommended by the house: “We leave the decision to you,” says the visitor. If these come from different hashes, they are not placed directly next to each other. “No one wants to sit shoulder to shoulder at the moment,” says director Hannah Stegmayer. They handle it in a similar way at Kupferhaus Planegg. There will continue to be seating in the hall at a certain distance and it is recommended to wear a mask in the foyer and on the way to the square.