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COVID-19 RULES

Bavaria’s health minister calls for extension of mask requirement

Klaus Holetschek (CSU), the health minister of Bavaria, has criticised the early end to Covid restrictions as well as the unclear 'hotspot' rules.

Published: 28 March 2022 10:23 CEST
Bavaria's health minister calls for extension of mask requirement
Klaus Holetschek (CSU), Gesundheitsminister von Bayern, nimmt nach einer Sitzung des bayerischen Kabinetts an einer Pressekonferenz teil. (zu dpa «Bayerns Gesundheitsminister Holetschek positiv auf Corona getestet») +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

Following the so-called ‘freedom day’ on March 20th, most German states have been following a transitional phase-out of Covid restrictions, meaning that rules such as indoor mask wearing and 2G or 3G access rules for restaurants and bars will continue to be in force until the beginning of April.

But Bavaria’s Health Minister, Klaus Holetschek (CSU), who has previously criticised the early relaxing of Covid measures, has now called for an extension of mask wearing in Bavaria for another four weeks.

READ ALSO: German ‘freedom day’ arrives but states delay end to restrictions

In an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine Newspaper, Holetschek criticised the early ending of Covid restrictions and said that “the whole of Germany is one hotspot…almost everyone outside the government quarter in Berlin has already realised this”. For this reason, he called for extending the obligation to wear masks in indoor areas in Bavaria for another four weeks.

Unclear hotspot rules

The Covid ‘hotspot regulation’ is part of the new legal framework which allows states to reintroduce additional measures – such as having to show vaccination status or proof of recovery to visit restaurants and bars – if the health system becomes overloaded or dangerous new virus variants are detected. But there are currently no threshold values for when this rule should take effect.

Bavaria’s health minister also criticised the lack of clarity with the rules and called for nationwide uniform criteria for the application of the hotspot rule, or an extension of the transition period. “The hotspot rules are far too woolly and do not allow us to implement them with legal certainty,” said Holetschek.

It is also disputed whether it is legally possible to declare an entire federal state a hotspot. “There is a big gap between what Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann say,” Holetschek said.

READ ALSO: German states clash with government over new Covid protection laws

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, has already declared the whole state a hotspot, while states such as Baden-Wurttemberg and Lower Saxony see no grounds for a hotspot regulation at the moment, despite the record number of new infections.

On Monday, the state health ministers will meet Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to discuss the hotspot rules in more detail and to clarify at what point the rule can take effect for regions with high Covid numbers once the transition period is over.

The criticism and reluctance to reduce Covid restrictions comes after the nationwide number of Covid infections detected since the beginning of the pandemic passed the 20 million mark over the weekend.

READ ALSO: Germany logs 1.5 million weekly Covid infections as Omicron subtype spreads

On Sunday, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the figure of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week on Sunday as 1723.8, slightly lower than the previous day (1758.4), although the new figure does not include data from Baden-Württemberg and Brandenburg.

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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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