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COVID-19 RULES

Germany’s restaurants and hotels open to the unvaccinated

Nightclubs in Germany were finally allowed to reopen Friday - and restaurants could allow unvaccinated people to enter.

Published: 4 March 2022 17:24 CET
Germany's restaurants and hotels open to the unvaccinated
A restaurant/bar owner in Augsburg changes the sign from 2G to 3G on Friday. Now unvaccinated people can visit these venues with a negative Covid test. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Stefan Puchner

Germany entered the second step of its Covid relaxation plan on Friday, reopening restaurants, bars, cafes and hotels to unvaccinated people. 

They have been barred from entering many public places since December in response to tightened restrictions to clamp down on the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The 2G rule was brought in which meant only vaccinated and recovered people were allowed to enter these venues. 

From Friday March 4th, unvaccinated people can visit a restaurant or similar venue with a negative Covid test under the 3G rule.

Nightclubs and discos are also allowed to reopen their doors with the 2G-plus rule as of Friday.

That means vaccinated and recovered people are allowed to go dancing if they can present a negative test result or are boosted.

In Berlin, however, even people who’ve had their booster shot have to show a negative Covid test. 

READ ALSO: The German Covid rules changing this week

Capacity rules are also being eased on March 4th. Indoors up to 60 percent of the maximum capacity – with a maximum of 6,000 people – is allowed.

Outdoors a capacity of up to 75 percent (with a maximum of 25,000 people) will be permitted. This will apply to the likes of football matches and concerts.

On Friday Germany reported 217,593 Covid cases within the latest 24 hour period, and 291 deaths. The 7-day incidence stood at 1,196.4 infections per 100,000 people. 

The new rules will apply for just over two weeks. On March 19th, the Infection Protection Act, which is currently the basis for the Covid restrictions, expires.

On March 20th most Covid rules will fall away and only some basic protection measures will remain. There’s no detail on what exactly they’ll be yet, but it is expected to include mandatory face masks in indoor public areas. 

The Free Democrats – partner in the governing coalition alongside the Social Democrats and Greens – are insisting that as few Covid rules as possible remain in force after March 20th.

Party leader and Finance Minister Christian Lindner said: “Our constitutional order applies and that means that the state only intervenes where it is really necessary, where there is really a danger. And we will discuss this together in detail: what is still necessary, what is not necessary.”

If the infection situation worsens significantly after March 20th, a fallback option will apply. Accordingly, the federal government will initiate a new law that provides for further Covid protection measures.

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COVID-19 RULES

Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

Three years after Germany introduced a series of protective measures against the coronavirus, the last are set to be repealed on Friday.

Published: 6 April 2023 10:42 CEST
Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

The remaining restrictions – or the requirement to wear a mask in surgeries, clinics and nursing homes – are falling away a couple of days after German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made an announcement that the Covid-19 pandemic is “over.”

“We have successfully managed the pandemic in Germany,” said Lauterbach at a press conference on Wednesday.

In light of low infection numbers and virus variants deemed to be less dangerous, Germany has been steadily peeling away the last of its longstanding measures. 

READ ALSO: Germany monitoring new Covid variant closely, says Health Minister

The obligation to wear a mask on public transport was lifted on February 2nd. 

During the height of the pandemic between 2020 and 2021, Germany introduced its strictest measures, which saw the closure of public institutions including schools and daycare centres (Kitas).

“The strategy of coping with the crisis had been successful overall,” said Lauterbach, while also admitting: “I don’t believe that the long school closures were entirely necessary.”

Since the first coronavirus cases in Germany were detected in January 2020, there have been over 38 million reported cases of the virus, and 171,272 people who died from or with the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute. 

Voluntary measures

In surgeries and clinics, mask rules can remain in place on a voluntary basis – which some facilities said they would consider based on their individual situations. 

“Of course, practices can stipulate a further obligation to wear masks as part of their house rules, and likewise everyone can continue to wear a mask voluntarily,” the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, told DPA.

But Gassen said it was good there would no longer be an “automatic obligation”, and that individuals could take the responsibility of protecting themselves and others into their own hands. 

READ ALSO: Is the pandemic over in Germany?

“Hospitals are used to establishing hygiene measures to protect their patients, even independently of the coronavirus,” the head of the German Hospital Association (DKG), Gerald Gaß, told DPA.

With the end of the last statutory Covid measures, he said, we are entering “a new phase” in dealing with this illness. 

“Hospitals will then decide individually according to the respective situation which measures they will take,” he said, for example based on the ages and illnesses of the patients being treated.

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