Status: 11.01.2022 13:52
In view of the increasing number of corona infections, the measures for MPs will be tightened from Wednesday. The 2G plus rule then applies in Bundestag buildings. In addition, FFP2 masks will be mandatory in the future instead of simple surgical masks.
For the members of the Bundestag, the 2G-Plus rule will apply from Wednesday. Parliamentarians are only allowed to enter the plenary hall if they have been vaccinated twice – or have recovered and have been vaccinated once – and can also present a current negative rapid test result, according to a letter from Bundestag director Lorenz Müller to the parliamentarians.
Only MPs who have already received a booster vaccination and those who have recovered with a double vaccination are exempt from the obligation to test. The legal basis for the new regulations is a general order from Bundestag President Bärbel Bas.
MEPs who do not meet these 2G-Plus regulations can, as before, only follow the plenary sessions from the visitors’ gallery. To do this, however, they will have to present a negative rapid test result in the future. Self-tests are not accepted. In the past few months, several AfD MPs who were critical of vaccinations had only been able to follow the meetings from the stands because of these regulations.
“Growing risk of infection”
The new regulation of the Bundestag administration also provides that an FFP2 mask must be worn in all buildings of the Bundestag in future – a simple surgical mask is then no longer sufficient. The masks may be removed for speeches in the plenary hall.
The current strong increase in the number of infections and the spread of the Bundestag’s Omikron variant also represented a “growing risk of infection” for the Bundestag’s properties, wrote Lorenz to the MPs. “That is why the measures to protect the functionality of the German Bundestag are to be further expanded.”