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The Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg has overturned the 2G rule in retail
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Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
The Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg has overturned the 2G rule that has only recently come into force in retail in Lower Saxony.
The decision said the measure is not necessary to further contain the coronavirus and is not compatible with the general principle of equality.
Since Monday, the rule in the retail sector in Lower Saxony that those who had not been vaccinated against Corona or recovered from it could only shop in shops for daily needs.
The 13th Senate of the court decided to suspend this regulation for the time being.
The decision is not contestable and is generally binding throughout Lower Saxony (Ref .: 13 MN 477/21).
The complaint was filed by a company that also operates retail outlets in Lower Saxony with a mixed assortment.
The grocery trade, garden centers and electronics repair shops were exempt from the regulation.
This different interpretation has no comprehensible factual reasons, ruled the court.
The numerous exceptions reduced the ability of the regulation to achieve its infection protection goals.
Most of the customer contacts take place in grocery stores anyway.
In addition, retail customers could also be required to wear an FFP2 mask.
Court criticizes the design of the rule
In its decision, the court criticized the current form of the rule.
A simple transfer of research findings from closed spaces in the sports and leisure sector to retail is not possible.
In addition, it is not evident that the country has increased its research on infection routes in order to improve the accuracy of its protective measures.
The court has repeatedly objected "that there were no reliable and comprehensible findings on the actual infection relevance of what happened in the retail trade."
The 2G rule interferes with the basic rights of unvaccinated customers and business owners.
The new Omikron variant does not require any other evaluation.
The Schleswig-Holstein OVG in Schleswig came to a contrary decision on Wednesday: The court approved the 2G regulation, which also applies in Schleswig-Holstein, in an urgent procedure and referred, among other things, to the Omikron variant classified as "worrying".
The trade association had already sharply criticized the rule in advance and stated that with the introduction of the 2G rule, it was to be expected that the Christmas business in the inner cities would largely come to a standstill.
Even before the rule was introduced, the trade association had an expert opinion drawn up, according to which the restrictions were unconstitutional.
hba / AFP / dpa
