In Bavaria, the mask obligation in public transport will be abolished. Due to the current stable contamination situation, this is no longer appropriate, government circles said on Tuesday. From December 10, there should be only one recommendation to wear the masks. This makes Bavaria the first German state where the obligation falls.
The proposal for abolition in Bavaria is said to come from Klaus Holetschek, State Secretary of the Bavarian Ministry of Health and Care, and is based on an initiative by Prime Minister Markus Söder. In Bavaria, the number of corona infections has long been the lowest in all of Germany and the procedure is based on the example of Austria. Personal responsibility will increase in the future.
To protect against the transmission of coronavirus infections, Bavaria, like other German states, decided in April 2020 to wear mouth and nose protectors in public. As the number of serious corona illnesses decreased, the obligation was gradually withdrawn.
Local public transport, where there is often crowds on buses and trains and physical contact between passengers, is one of the last public areas in Bavaria where face masks are mandatory.
Doctors are still required to wear masks
The obligation to wear masks on public transport has always been a point of discussion in the public debate, including in state politics. Most recently, the Free Voters had vigorously campaigned for its swift abolition and pushed for citizen voluntariness. Doctors, on the other hand, believe that the mask obligation should remain or even be expanded, they say.
Weeks ago, Söder had last mentioned mid-December or early next year as conceivable dates – provided the corona figures remain “reasonably stable” and there are no new mutations by then. Since the current version of the Bavarian Infection Protection Regulation, which previously also regulated the obligation to wear a mask in local transport, expires on December 9, a new regulation was necessary.
Mask requirement on aircraft abolished
While the German federal states can decide for themselves whether a mask is mandatory in local transport, the federal government is responsible for long-distance transport. According to the current federal infection protection law, masks are mandatory there until April 2023. The Bavarian state government has long criticized the fact that the mask requirement has been abolished in aircraft, but that it still applies to long-distance transport.
Source: Krone
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