Mask requirement and quarantine: who controls compliance with the corona rules?

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Train passengers with a mask: who is responsible?

An IC to the North Sea in August, travel time, the compartments are full. Reluctantly, a young woman sits down next to an older man. People crowd in front of the doors. Almost all of them wear mouth and nose protection - with the exception of one family man who sits at a table of four with his partner and daughter. When the conductor arrives, the father holds a cloth mask loosely in front of his face with one hand while he shows his ticket with the other.

The conductor says: nothing.

Refusing to wear a mask on the train could have been fined. But this is not always controlled, let alone enforced - which can lead to oppressive situations for travelers.

On Thursday, the federal states agreed for the first time on a minimum fine to increase the pressure. If you don't wear your mask or wear it incorrectly, you should pay at least 50 euros in the future. In some countries it can be significantly more expensive - in Bavaria, for example, the standard fine rate is 250 euros for one-off violations and 500 euros for repeated violations. Only Saxony-Anhalt is pulling out and does not want to punish violations financially.

Spahn and Laschet are calling on countries to carry out more controls

Everyone should feel obliged to cover their mouth and nose in trains and shops and thus minimize the risk of infecting others with the coronavirus. Medical ethicist Alena Buyx, chairwoman of the German Ethics Council, also said on Thursday at Maybrit Illner: If people don't go along with it, "it won't work anyway".

The example from the train also shows the limits of self-commitment and the need for the state to be able to enforce its regulations. Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) called on the states to monitor compliance with the corona rules more strictly. "With the execution more is certainly possible," said Spahn of the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet wanted an "enforcement offensive".

But who should implement and enforce these? The overview of mask requirements and quarantine shows how complicated the situation is.

The mask requirement

For weeks, Deutsche Bahn and the federal government argued over who should monitor the mask requirement on trains. Both sides saw the other responsible. The conflict initially ended with a public reprimand by Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU). In a letter, his ministry asked the railways "that the DB strictly observes compliance with the mask requirement". The group then agreed to expel people from the train who refused to wear mouth and nose protection when asked.

The railway can invoke the railway traffic regulations and, if necessary, enforce the eviction with the help of the federal police. But it cannot impose fines, as the Ministry of Transport emphasizes: "The state authorities are responsible for carrying out administrative offense proceedings."

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Employees of a prevention team at Deutsche Bahn who are supposed to check the mask requirement

The federal and state governments therefore want to find an easier way. The transport ministers should examine how a higher transport fee can be introduced for those who refuse to wear a mask on regional and long-distance trains. "Like a fine" should work, it was said after the joint deliberations. Chancellor Angela Merkel said that railway employees could then collect the increased pay directly.

But the rail union EVG is resisting this. "This is a trick that the Chancellor and the Prime Minister are trying to shift the state tasks," said Federal Managing Director Cosima Ingenschay on Friday in the ZDF "Morgenmagazin".

Previously, union leader Klaus-Dieter Hommel had accused the prime minister in the "Bild" newspaper of endangering "the life and health of thousands of train attendants". They are already exposed to attacks and in many cases have trouble if they point out the mask requirement. From a trade union perspective, the controls are the job of the federal police.

Deutsche Bahn is reluctant to respond to SPIEGEL's request. It is said that the "concretising discussions between the transport ministers and companies in the transport sector" are being held. A regulation must serve to protect passengers and also keep an eye on the safety of employees.

The first federal states are now trying to enforce the corona rules with joint priority controls. On Monday, regional railway companies, Deutsche Bahn, the federal police and public order offices checked compliance at nine major train stations in North Rhine-Westphalia. Result: 1,707 violations of the mask requirement. The regulatory agencies initiated fine proceedings.

Quarantine for travelers returning from risk areas

In addition to the minimum fine for those who do not wear a mask, the federal and state governments have also adopted new rules for travelers from risk areas. Anyone who travels from there to Germany should go into quarantine at home for 14 days. As of October 1st, if possible, it should be possible to end self-isolation early - with a negative test. The smear should not be taken before the fifth day after your return. This is to prevent an infection that you contracted in the last days of your stay abroad from going undetected.

The local health department is usually responsible for ordering the quarantine. Those returning from risk areas are required to be isolated according to the decision of the federal and state governments but also by the respective corona regulations of the state.

Theoretically, the quarantine is voluntary, says lawyer Wilhelm Achelpöhler, referring to the justification for a decision by the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court. Achelpöhler is a specialist lawyer for administrative law and a member of the hazard prevention law committee of the German Bar Association (DAV). According to him, anyone who leaves his home can only be detained there again by order of a judge. However, a fine could be imposed. And if you have to pay thousands of euros for a walk, you might think twice.

According to the lawyer, it is the responsibility of the respective regulatory authorities to check whether those returning from risk areas adhere to the quarantine. How public order and health authorities agree concretely, they would have to clarify among themselves.

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Covid test center at Hamburg Airport: travelers from risk areas have to be in quarantine

But the health authorities are often overwhelmed with tracking the infected and checking the quarantine of corona cases including contact persons. An employee of an office in Lower Saxony wants to know how Health Minister Spahn imagines the stronger controls. In his health department, the staff is well enough to be able to call infected people in quarantine every day.

But you don't have such close contact with isolated travelers returning, says the employee who is responsible for tracking chains of infection, DER SPIEGEL. The public order office only becomes active if the health department reports suspicion of a quarantine violation.

The health authorities are constantly being assigned new tasks, complained the chairwoman of the Federal Association of Doctors in the Public Health Service, Ute Teichert, in the SWR. The offices are understaffed. It becomes "very difficult to guarantee compliance with the quarantine nationwide". The number of people returning from their travels has risen sharply, and many have given false information when they arrive in Germany and can therefore hardly be found.

Medical President Klaus Reinhardt is now calling for support for the offices. According to him, home quarantine should be monitored by the police or regulatory agencies. The medical officers are already at full capacity.

With material from the dpa