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COVID-19 RULES

When will German states drop compulsory masks on public transport?

Some German states have already got rid of the masking requirement on public transport, while others are planning to keep them - at least until mid-February. Here's the latest.

Published: 4 January 2023 10:10 CET
People wear masks on the S-Bahn in Frankfurt.
People wear masks on the S-Bahn in Frankfurt. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Arne Dedert

People across several German states still have to wear an FFP2 mask on buses, trains, trams and the U-Bahn to protect against the spread of Covid – but that could change soon. 

Schleswig-Holstein, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt have already ditched the mandatory mask requirement on public transport.

READ ALSO: First German states scrap masks on public transport?

Now it has emerged that the other states want to keep the mask requirement in place in January and at least part of February, according to a survey of the states by RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

Many state health ministries cited the strained health care system as a reason for keeping masks in place for now. According to Hamburg, mandatory masks in public transport should continue to help prevent Covid infections in the coming weeks.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and North Rhine-Westphalia said in the RND survey that they wanted to keep mandatory masks on public transport at the moment to prevent a further burden on surgeries and clinics.

Thuringia said it plans to get rid of the mask requirement in March – provided the situation doesn’t get worse.

Masks on public transport is one of the only Covid restrictions left in Germany, along with having to isolate with a positive Covid result. However, the rules can differ depending on the state.

READ ALSO: Two German states stop enforcing mandatory Covid-19 isolation

Meanwhile, one of the only Covid measures that have been in place nationwide this winter, is the requirement that passengers on long-distance transport still wear face masks. Under the current law, this will remain in place until April 2023.

Mid-February?

The issue of masks is currently being debated in Berlin and Brandenburg.

According to news agency DPA, the Brandenburg state government has proposed to get rid of the mask requirement on public transport in mid-February – after consultation with Berlin.

“The date should be agreed with as many states as possible, as state premier Dietmar Woidke (SPD) has repeatedly requested,” Brandenburg government spokesman Florian Engels said.

“After preliminary talks with the Senate Chancellery of Berlin, mid-February is preferred.”

The state government is planning to approach the other neighbouring states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony and Lower Saxony with the proposal, he said.

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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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