Enlarge image
Long queue at the entrance: shops like Galeria Kaufhof have to check the 2G rule themselves
Photo: Sebastian Willnow / dpa
The department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof failed in Berlin with its urgent application against the 2G rules before the administrative court.
The aim of the regulations is to respond to the continued high number of infections, primarily of unvaccinated people, and the increasing incidence of the highly contagious virus variant Omikron, and these regulations are proportionate, the court said.
They also served a legitimate purpose: to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.
After this urgent decision, the 2G access rules will remain in place for the time being.
According to the Berlin Corona Regulation, department stores, among other things, are currently only allowed to open under the 2G condition.
That means, visitors either have to be vaccinated or have recovered, the whole thing has to be checked by the shops.
According to the court, the chain saw the regulations essentially as a "disproportionate interference with the freedom of occupation".
Furthermore, she alleged a violation of the principle of equal treatment.
The court pointed out that the infection rate should be slowed down and at the same time the burden on the health system as a whole should be reduced.
The 2G condition is therefore suitable for promoting this goal because it reduces the risk of infection, which also exists in retail.
There are currently no milder funds available.
In addition, the restriction only affects a minority of the population living in Berlin.
An appeal against the decision is possible at the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg.
A corresponding urgent application in Hamburg had also failed.
In Lower Saxony, however, a court provisionally lifted the 2G rule there in retail after a lawsuit by the department store chain Woolworth.
The applications refer to the respective state regulations.
mamk / dpa
