Status: 02/14/2023 4:10 p.m
Earlier than planned, the federal and state health ministers are canceling further corona protection requirements – on March 1st instead of April 7th. However, masks must continue to be worn when visiting doctors, clinics and nursing homes.
According to plans by the federal and state governments, further nationwide corona protection regulations are to expire early on March 1st – instead of April 7th as previously planned. This was shared by Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach. Only visitors to the doctor, hospital and nursing home should still be required to wear a mask. The health ministers had agreed on this, Lauterbach said.
For employees and residents in health and care facilities, on the other hand, the mask and test obligation no longer applies. But: “Anyone who visits patients or residents, who makes doctor’s appointments, must continue to wear a mask. The protection of vulnerable groups should be worth it to us,” said Lauterbach.
This last regulation – a mask requirement for visitors – will expire on April 7th, the minister said at a short press conference. “And then a continuation is no longer planned,” said Lauterbach. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann welcomed the decisions as “a further step towards normality”. However, the FDP politician wants to continue to promote “critically examining” whether the remaining requirements could expire earlier than currently planned.
Jeanne Turczynski, BR, on the end of most of the Corona measures on March 1st
tagesschau24 4:00 p.m., 14.2.2023
“Stable infection situation” allow the step
Lauterbach justifies the step with “the stable infection situation”. The 7-day incidence is stagnating, the hospitals can take good care of the corona patients.
Germany got through the pandemic well. “We have a relatively old population, the vaccination rate is relatively low. And yet we have fewer deaths than many other countries,” said the SPD politician. This is not least thanks to a consistent corona policy: “One of the most consistent in Europe.”
The pandemic is not over yet, said Lauterbach, but it has lost its terror. “The virus is manageable in everyday life.”
Relaxation in public transport preceded it
In preparation for a potentially more critical pandemic situation this winter, several nationwide corona regulations were laid down in the Infection Protection Act.
At the beginning of February, the mask requirement on long-distance trains and long-distance buses was suspended early. According to the corresponding regulations of the federal states, there are no longer any mask requirements in local transport either. Gradually, the federal states also let the isolation obligation for corona infected people expire.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which is affiliated with the Ministry of Health, had – also at the beginning of February – downgraded the corona risk from “high” to “moderate”. According to the institute, almost 167,000 people in Germany have died in connection with a corona infection since the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020.
