In NRW, the mask requirement on buses and trains has come to an end. The country will soon lift the Corona rule in local public transport.
Düsseldorf – North Rhine-Westphalia is following suit. The mask requirement in local public transport in NRW will be lifted on February 1, 2023. A spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Health explained when asked by wa.de that the infection situation is currently still easing. “. This also creates uniformity with the regulation in long-distance traffic. ”Because the federal government had already announced on Friday morning that it would abolish the obligation to wear a mask in long-distance traffic at the beginning of February.
NRW tips mask requirement on bus and train
This means that the obligation to wear a mask on buses and trains in local public transport (ÖPNV) in NRW no longer applies, more than two and a half years after the introduction of this Corona rule.
Meanwhile, travelers and commuters still have the opportunity to act on their own responsibility. The spokesman for the NRW Ministry of Health said: “Of course, those who want to protect themselves can wear a mask voluntarily.
The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia will decide on further possible adjustments to the corona protection measures in NRW, in particular the obligation to isolate, “in good time before the current Corona Protection Ordinance expires”.
In February, the mask requirement in long-distance traffic also falls
The North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Health last passed an ordinance on December 16 last year, with which the regulations of the Corona Protection Ordinance and the Test and Quarantine Ordinance were extended until January 31. According to NRW state law, there will still be an obligation to wear a medical mask (surgical mask) in local public transport until then. Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein had already overturned the mask requirement in public transport.
Almost immediately beforehand, the federal government had announced on Friday (January 13) that the mask requirement in long-distance transport – an FFP2 mask is mandatory there – should fall on February 2. This was announced by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). “The experts advising us no longer assume that there will be another big, severe winter wave,” he said. According to the Federal Infection Protection Act, the obligation to wear a mask in long-distance traffic should last until April 7th.
