Brandenburg: mask requirement now also applies to schools

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The mask is mandatory - also in Brandenburg (symbol picture)

The mask requirement for local transport and retail now also applies in schools and after-school centers in Brandenburg. The cabinet has decided to include mouth and nose protection for schools and after-school care centers in the Corona regulation, said Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens). The mask requirement does not apply to classrooms and playgrounds. The state government had already announced the mask requirement, since school started on Monday it was initially voluntary.

Previously, the strict interpretation of the mask requirement at schools in North Rhine-Westphalia caused a stir. NRW was the only federal state to have made a mask requirement, which applies not only in the school building and on the school premises, but also in lessons at secondary and vocational schools. The measure is initially limited to the end of August.

"We have to be particularly careful these days"

Shortly before the start of the new school year on Wednesday, NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) defended the decision again. "We have to be particularly careful these days," said Laschet.

Science is still divided on how to evaluate the mask requirement in schools. Most studies suggest, however, that children have a lower risk of contracting the virus. One reason for this could be that the receptor through which the new coronavirus enters the body is found in smaller quantities.

Each federal state makes its own decision as to whether and to what extent pupils have to wear masks - this leads to very different results: in Bavaria, for example, elementary school students have to wear the mask, in Baden-Württemberg, Berlin and Hamburg the obligation applies from grade 5 , but only in certain situations - for example in the hallways, stairs or the school yard.

In Hesse and Saxony, the school principals should decide whether or not to order mouth and nose protection. In Saxony-Anhalt, politics is still wrestling with it. "We are following the debate and are observing the development and, above all, the experiences of the countries that are now starting schools," announced Minister of Education Marco Tullner (CDU). And in Thuringia, depending on the number of infections, it is decided which measures must be taken.

lmd / dpa