The mask requirement in Bavarian buses, trams and regional trains is expected to fall in December or January at the latest. However, the state government has not yet set a date for the end of the Corona measure on Tuesday. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had previously announced an early end to the mask requirement on Monday. “We are convinced that the mask requirement in public transport could expire either in mid-December or at the beginning of next year, if the numbers remain reasonably stable and there are no new mutations,” he said after a video call by the CSU board. The state government will decide on this “promptly”. Söder had already said the previous week that in view of the falling numbers, a general requirement would “soon no longer be appropriate”, and that it could be converted into a recommendation. Long-distance rail traffic would not be affected, here the mask requirement is a matter for the federal government and applies until April 2023.
The current Bavarian Infection Protection Ordinance, which provides for this obligation – as one of the few remaining regulations in public life, expires on December 9th. However, the timely referral announced by Söder did not mean this Tuesday. After the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Head of State Florian Herrmann (CSU) said when asked that Corona had been discussed in passing. However, no resolutions or discussions were made on how to proceed after the regulation expires. According to Herrmann, the fact that Corona is no longer the dominant topic in the cabinet under enormous tension shows the gradual transition from the pandemic to the endemic – “that we are returning to normal”.
If the mask requirement actually falls on December 9th, this could be decided in the cabinet meeting next week; in the event of a later omission, around the turn of the year, the ordinance would first have to be extended. According to Herrmann, the corona monitoring at the State Office for Health is decisive. The seven-day incidence, which is hardly meaningful today due to declining testing, among other things, was 110.9 on Tuesday. The number of hospitalizations of patients with or because of a corona infection is also falling, as is the utilization of intensive care units. In absolute numbers, 133 intensive care beds for people with Covid are currently being used in Bavaria. A red warning level was provided at 600 in the state government’s former warning light.
So why “Söders Zaudern”, as Dominik Spitzer recently asked, health politician of the FDP in the state parliament: There are announcements, but nothing concrete follows. It can no longer be conveyed to people that they have to wear a mask on the bus to a concert, but not at the event itself. In any case, mask discipline has long since subsided. After the obligation to carry them in other areas of life was abolished, it was noticed “that our passengers are also increasingly accepting it,” says a spokesman for the greater Nuremberg transport association, for example. The Federal Ministry of Health, on the other hand, warns against the omission of the mask in local transport. The number of infections will increase in winter, according to Karl Lauterbach (SPD) – there is “no basis for easing”.
Scientists have differing views on this. Christoph Spinner, infectiologist at the University Hospital on the Right of the Isar in Munich, sees the time to end the mask requirement. “Why not? The incidences are low, the danger of Covid-19 has fallen significantly and mortality has also decreased.” The effectiveness of the masks is beyond question, and of course a passenger with an FFP2 mask is better protected on the subway than someone without a mask. “But an obligation is about a risk-benefit analysis,” says Spinner. It is appropriate that the state should now put the decision about wearing a mask back into the hands of the citizens. You are at a point in the pandemic where you can deal with corona like other infectious diseases – he calls it “the new normal” and means the transition to the endemic phase. Spinner himself would no longer wear a mask on every train journey once the obligation ended. However, he also emphasizes that it is advisable in certain situations, such as before a meeting with the grandparents. “After all, the mask will not be banned.”
Oliver Keppler, virologist at the Max von Pettenkofer Institute at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, on the other hand, considers the abolition of public transport to be premature. “It’s an effective and simple way for people who regularly use these modes of transport to protect themselves.” Vulnerable groups in particular who rely on public transport would benefit from the continuation of the mask requirement. It is not enough for them to rely on people’s personal responsibility. “Many believe that it makes no difference to your own protection if you wear a mask as an individual and the others don’t, or if everyone around you also wears a mask. Aerosol studies suggest that protection against infection can be increased by up to 70 times higher when the vast majority wears an FFP2 mask.” It’s different in the supermarket, for example. The risk of exposure to the virus there is far lower than on the subway, bus or tram. “You sit and stand very tightly together.” Keppler believes it is necessary to maintain the mask requirement in public transport over the winter and then to think about abolishing it depending on the infection process.
From the point of view of the Bavarian Association of General Practitioners, there is a lot to be said for maintaining the mask requirement on public transport. Because here – unlike when visiting a restaurant, for example – people usually have no choice as to whether they want to expose themselves to the higher risk of infection in closed rooms. “If the mask requirement remains in place on public transport, this will help protect against a corona infection, for example on the way to work by bus or train, especially with a view to the elimination of the obligation to isolate in the event of a corona infection.” Bavaria and other federal states had deleted them a few days ago.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Klaus Holetschek (CSU) has welcomed the decision of the federal government that the facility-related vaccination requirement for medical and nursing staff should expire at the end of the year. Holetschek, who only had this rule implemented in Bavaria for new hires anyway, said on Tuesday that the step was “overdue” and that every worker in the areas was needed. The partial vaccination requirement was “originally a good approach to protect vulnerable groups” – but “always intended only as a precursor to a general vaccination requirement”.