Mask requirement at Aldi, Edeka, Rewe: Corona rule in the supermarket even after April 2nd?

Created: 03/23/2022, 14:27

By: Yannick Hanke

The mask requirement in German retail will definitely apply until the beginning of April 2022.

But what happens afterwards with the Corona rule in the supermarket?

Berlin – The "Freedom Day" on March 20, 2022 burst, the infection process did not give it away.

Two days earlier, the German Bundestag passed the new Infection Protection Act.

As a result, numerous corona protection measures are no longer applicable, but many corona rules and restrictions will initially apply until April 2nd.

As kreiszeitung.de reports, this applies above all to the obligation to wear masks in retail and thus also in supermarkets.

But how will the mask requirement as a corona rule in supermarkets and discounters like Aldi, Edeka, Lidl or Rewe continue?

Mask requirement at Aldi, Edeka, Rewe: Discounters and supermarkets can extend the Corona rule in retail after April 2, 2022 themselves

In any case, the mask requirement in supermarkets throughout Germany will apply until April 2, 2022. This Corona rule applies to all retail shops and not just to discounters and supermarkets such as Aldi, Edeka, Lidl or Rewe.

After that, the obligation to wear a protective mask against the corona virus in the relevant areas could theoretically fall.

The mask requirement in retail and thus also in discounters and supermarkets will definitely apply until April 2, 2022. But how will Aldi, Edeka, Lidl or Rewe then deal with the Corona rule?

(kreiszeitung.de assembly) © Daniel Karmann/dpa/Oliver Berg/dpa

Ultimately, this requires legal requirements that specify the Corona framework for action in which consumers must move.

However, if there is no legal regulation by April 2nd, discounters, supermarkets and other retail shops that are characterized by hamster purchases could independently order a mask requirement.

Speaking in the subjunctive that needs to be examined more closely.

Mask requirement in retail: Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania want to extend the Corona rule - also in discounters and supermarkets

As the “Bild” reports, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is now the first federal state to push ahead and extend the mask requirement until April 27th.

This would therefore also affect retail in general and discounters and supermarkets in particular.

This is justified by Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Health Minister Stefanie Drese (SPD) with a "dynamic infection process" and staff shortages in the clinics.

On Wednesday, March 23, 2022, the state parliament is to decide on the possible extension of the mask requirement.

Incidentally, with Hamburg, the next federal state is planning to extend the mask requirement * and use a legal loophole.

For this, however, the city-state must first declare corona hotspots.

In the following, access rules such as 2G and 3G as well as a mask requirement, for example in discounters and supermarkets from Aldi, Edeka or Rewe, could be issued.

Mask requirement at Aldi, Lidl, Edeka, Rewe can be extended as a corona rule in the supermarket - if there is a corona hotspot

With regard to the extension of the mask requirement in retail and thus also in discounters and supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl, Rewe or Edeka, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) knows how to take some wind out of the sails, some of which are already stretched:

The hotspot has clear requirements.

Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) to the "Bild"

In concrete terms, this means that the functionality of the local health system - in a district, a city or even in an entire federal state - "must be concretely threatened".

Because once again politicians have clear regulations as to how a corona hotspot is defined at all.

If such a danger only exists at one end of a federal state, "you cannot declare a hotspot at the other end," adds Buschmann in relation to the Corona rule.

Not even as an operator of Aldi, Edeka or Rewe, of course.

Omikron on the rise, but will the obligation to wear masks in retail be extended?

Aldi, Edeka, Lidl and Rewe could make use of domiciliary rights

The consideration of extending the mask requirement in retail due to the rapid spread of Omikron should be understandable in principle.

While the symptoms of an omicron infection can still be interpreted quite well, the symptoms that indicate an infection with the omicron subform BA.2 are still puzzling.

It is therefore all the more advisable to have “well-tried” protection in the form of the obligation to wear a mask – also in the Aldi or Lidl discounters and the Edeka or Rewe supermarkets.

An undertaking that should actually be within the realm of possibility.

Or maybe not?

The operators of Aldi, Edeka, Lidl or Rewe could finally make use of their domiciliary rights and enforce the mask requirement as a corona rule in their supermarkets and discounter branches.

According to the "Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland" (RND), the willingness to do so is rather low.

Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE) does not recommend discounters and supermarkets to extend the mask requirement

The German Retail Association (HDE) had emphasized the importance of masks for preventing corona infections to the RND.

However, the mask requirement in supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl or Edeka is not a permanent solution, according to HDE general manager Stefan Genth in connection with the corona rule in supermarkets.

His diplomatic answer:

The medical experts have to assess when the time has come for the mask requirement to be lifted.

Stefan Genth, General Manager of the German Retail Association (HDE), to the RND

The members of the association from the retail trade, i.e. also discounters and supermarkets à la Aldi, Edeka, Lidl or Rewe, will therefore not receive a definitive recommendation for the period after April 2nd, 2022. So how should the mask requirement as a corona rule in the future be dealt with in the future? supermarket: keep it, abolish it, or is there a compromise somewhere in between?

Mask requirement in discounters and supermarkets: Aldi wants to adhere to the corona rules of the federal states - Rewe adheres to official orders

Upon request, Lidl and Kaufland, part of the Schwarz Group, had already announced that they generally wanted to be guided by the respective corona rules of the countries and the current Corona Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance.

This does not necessarily indicate that companies will of their own accord make masks mandatory in their supermarkets and discounters.

A mask requirement at Rewe, which is initiated by the supermarket itself, also seems impossible.

"We are conscientiously implementing the orders made by the authorities," RND quoted a company spokesman as saying.

And Aldi Nord, in turn, would like to “first wait for the political discussion and the specific design of the state regulations”.

Mask requirement at Edeka: supermarket chain with a special role in the Corona rule - owner-managed markets can decide for themselves whether to extend it

So far, the picture is clear.

The mask requirement in retail and thus also in discounters and supermarkets such as Aldi or Rewe will apply until April 2, 2022.

After that, the Corona rule in the supermarket will only apply if the legislator has clearly regulated it.

The market operators themselves hardly show any initiative in this respect.

However, a special constellation results from the Edeka Group.

Here, many branches are owner-managed, which means that any corona protection measures can be taken independently in the respective store.

This also includes the obligation to wear a mask.

Conversely, it could also mean that a protective mask against the corona virus has to be worn in one Edeka store and not in the next Edeka store.

And once again chaos reigns.

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