Berliners without vaccination will have to be prepared for further restrictions. The Senate has a conference call on Wednesday afternoon extensive expansion of the 2G rule decided. In addition, the rules in the workplace are being tightened again significantly. There is a recommendation for 50 percent home office. The test obligations in old people’s homes and hospitals are also tightened for vaccinated staff. The rule should come into force on Monday.
In view of the significantly increased incidence in Berlin, access to restaurants, cinemas and theaters will then only be possible for vaccinated and convalescent people (2G) – and no longer also for those who have been tested (3G). Berlin’s Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) had already stated at the beginning of the week: “2G makes it clear: It will be more uncomfortable and complicated not to be vaccinated or to have recovered.”
The Senate has now agreed: 2G will in future apply to restaurants (but not to outdoor areas), in all cultural institutions such as clubs, theaters, opera houses or on excursions, in sports facilities such as swimming pools, fitness and dance studios, and also for closed events Clearing. Likewise, only those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered will have access to outdoor events with more than 2000 participants – this also explicitly includes football games.
For body-hugging services such as hairdressers and prostitution, 2G is now also required. 2G will also apply in zoos and animal parks, but only in animal houses and in the aquarium. Unvaccinated people can continue to enter the outdoor facilities.
2G rule does not apply to retail
The retail trade is completely exempt from the regulation in Berlin. In universities and libraries, the 3G rule remains, but a mask requirement will be reintroduced there. The 2G rule remains optional at Christmas markets, so operators can also opt for free access with a distance and a mask requirement. A daily test requirement will be introduced for non-vaccinated employees in the catering industry.
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All under 18-year-olds and people who cannot be vaccinated – for example because of illnesses – are exempt from the 2G rule.
The Senate is also significantly tightening the rules in the workplace. If there are no important operational reasons to the contrary, it is recommended to only fill every second job. “Where presence is necessary, employers must provide their employees with two corona tests per week free of charge,” says the decision paper.
2G-Plus not explicitly excluded for the future
The Senate has not yet agreed on a 2G-Plus regulation for certain areas of life. Müller suggested one of these last week. At larger events or club visits, vaccinated and convalescent people would also have to test themselves, wear a mask or keep a distance of 1.5 meters again. Unvaccinated people would no longer have access.
The rule is to be discussed again at one of the upcoming meetings. Among other things, it is said to have been argued that the rigidity of the regulations should still be improved and that the federal government should wait for the free tests to be reintroduced.
Experts bring lockdown into play
In the past few days, the first experts such as the mobility researcher Kai Nagel from the Technical University of Berlin had once again brought a possible lockdown into play as a necessary measure. Nagel also thinks Müller’s 2G-Plus proposal makes sense. “The effect of testing is more than twice as great if the vaccinated and convalescents take part,” he told Tagesspiegel.
Berlin’s governing mayor, unlike Nagel, believes that another lockdown cannot be implemented. “I don’t think that another lockdown would be accepted over Christmas,” said the SPD politician. The test obligations in homes should be expanded again, said Müller. The Berlin Greens parliamentary group leader Silke Gebel had previously suggested.
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The districts of Neukölln and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg had already announced increased controls on Monday, in some cases in larger deployments with the police. Experience shows that so far the regulations have been implemented very differently in bars. Not all of them check their guests’ vaccination records.
In Berlin, for example, event organizers or operators of restaurants have the choice of whether they only allow access to their interiors to those who have been vaccinated and recovered or whether they also allow those who have been tested. In the case of 2G, there is then no mask requirement.
Michael Müller: The corona pandemic never stopped
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On Monday evening, the Senate agreed in principle on a comprehensive 2G regulation. Shortly before the conference call, Müller was also positive about it – he thinks the introduction of 2G in Berlin is quite possible. The rising numbers of corona infections are a sign that the pandemic has never stopped, he said in the late afternoon on the Phoenix TV channel.
It is important now to consider what measures need to be taken to further contain the pandemic, said Müller. In addition to the discussion about 2G, this also includes maintaining the mask requirement as well as more vaccinations and booster vaccinations.
Michael Müller is skeptical about mandatory vaccinations
Even if many people have already been vaccinated, the vaccination rate must be higher, said Müller. Low-threshold vaccination offers should continue to be made in order to motivate those who have not yet been vaccinated to be vaccinated. However, he does not believe that a 90 percent vaccination rate can be achieved. “In the end we will not be able to achieve 10 to 15 percent.”
Müller considers compulsory vaccination difficult to implement – both in the political discussion and in social acceptance. In many industries that are close to people, the vaccination rate is already very high. Müller is not convinced that with a mandatory vaccination you can reach the last unvaccinated. “In consideration of this, I am still of the opinion that compulsory vaccination would not help much in these areas.”
Michael Müller also commented on a possible lockdown over Christmas. “I don’t think another Christmas lockdown would be accepted.”
2G regulation is also coming in Brandenburg
There will also be a 2G regulation in Brandenburg. The cabinet in Potsdam had already agreed on Tuesday that unvaccinated people should no longer have access to discos, clubs and festivals. On Thursday, the government also wants to take a corresponding decision and at the same time clarify whether restaurants, hotels, theaters, cinemas and swimming pools will be added to the 2G rule. The mask requirement in elementary schools, which Berlin had already decided on Monday, is to be reintroduced. Brandenburg is still deciding whether this also applies to the first two classes.
Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) had already presented the plans of the red-black-green coalition on Tuesday. He was concerned about the rapidity of the increasing number of infections. In Brandenburg, the seven-day incidence is significantly higher than the national average. Woidke named keeping schools open and hospitals functional as important goals.
The introduction of the mask requirement in elementary schools sparked discussions. Education Minister Britta Ernst (SPD) pointed out, among other things, that masks for children are a major restriction. Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens) believes it is urgently needed because of the high seven-day incidence in 5- to 14-year-olds. However, the decision in principle to introduce it has been made. (with dpa)