Mask requirement by house rules?

Aldi, Edeka, Rewe, Lidl and Penny speak out

Created: 04/16/2022, 04:52

By: Magdalena von Zumbusch

It has been part of everyday life for two years since the beginning of the corona pandemic: the mask requirement in Germany fell on Sunday.

Read here what applies when shopping.

Munich – Anyone who goes shopping no longer has to wear a mask in most federal states in Germany.

For the first time since April 2020, supermarkets, discounters and other shops have been allowed to let in customers who are not wearing a mouth and nose cover.

Masks are not compulsory: exceptions only in Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

The federal and state governments have relaxed their corona measures accordingly.

The mask requirement had already fallen in Berlin on Friday, and then in most other federal states on Sunday – this means that a mask requirement only applies in a few places.

For the time being, Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are sticking to the mask requirement as part of this hotspot regulation.

The remaining federal states, especially Bavaria, ultimately decided not to go their own way.

The Infection Protection Act no longer stipulates a nationwide mask requirement from April 3rd

After changes to the Infection Protection Act, a general obligation to wear masks indoors such as shops is no longer planned as nationwide after a transitional period from April 3rd.

From now on, retailers can decide for themselves.

Doctors had campaigned for additional basic protection, but the SPD and Greens were unable to push this through in the traffic light coalition.

Lauterbach wished in vain for a mask requirement in retail by domiciliary rights of retailers

In retail, unlike in public places, there is the possibility that the retailers themselves enforce the mask requirement independently of government regulations, namely through their domiciliary rights.

This allows retailers to enforce certain rules of conduct on their sales floors.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach had wanted this: he would support supermarket chains or large organizers continuing to make mask specifications for their interiors according to domiciliary rights.

With the currently high number of corona infections, this could be an addition to the protection rules of the countries in hotspot regions with a critical situation.

The dealers do not want to take responsibility for checking the mask requirement

However, the German retailers are apparently not convinced of the idea that they could continue to make masks compulsory via their domiciliary rights in the sales rooms.

The German supermarket chains surveyed said they do not want to be charged with the responsibility for monitoring the measures, the state is responsible for that.

The

company , for example, told

.

“Unfortunately, with the amendment to the Infection Protection Act, the legislator decided that the obligation to wear masks can only be ordered in exceptional cases and in special hotspots.

The government has positioned itself clearly here and accepted a possible patchwork of specifications," said a spokesman for Edeka.

"Therefore, one cannot expect that we will continue to enforce a mask requirement with the help of house rules.

We don’t have the control options there.”

The situation is similar with competitor 

 .

Unless there are other government regulations, shopping at Rewe and the discount subsidiary

will be possible without a mask, a company spokesman told the German Press Agency.

This is how the black group, to which

and 

 , do not use their domiciliary rights to enforce a mask requirement, unless official requirements require this again, a company spokesman told the German Press Agency.

At 

 , too, there will be no enforcement of the mask requirement via domiciliary rights.

“If there is no obligation to wear a mask, we reserve the right to recommend that employees and customers continue to wear a mask voluntarily,” the company told

.

It remains to be seen how the new freedoms will affect the incidence figures.

Lidl and Aldi have corrected the prices for important everyday groceries upwards*.

It is now known which products are affected.