Gmund / Miesbach - Gmund's mayor Alfons Besel (FWG) does not have to fear any consequences because of the municipal council meeting, which has developed into a corona hotspot.
The district office does not see the waiver of a mask requirement as an "incorrect judgment".
It is said that only such a violation would have been a violation of the law.
As is well known, more than 40 people were infected with the corona virus as a result of the meeting - mainly the families of the municipal councils.
Could Besel have foreseen this?
No, says the district office.
Because: "An inaccurate assessment of the infection process cannot be detrimental to a mayor as an infectious layperson."
Besel's approach was in accordance with the guidelines valid at the time
The district office had to assess whether Besel fulfilled the requirements of the requirements and recommendations of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior valid at the time of the meeting. This gave the chairman a margin of discretion. For Gmund and the Neureuthersaal, in which the meeting took place, Besel was able to argue that the hall is designed for 250 people outside of Corona times, that the minimum distance of one and a half meters was observed and that the room has a ventilation system that the air does not circulate, i.e. blow it back into the hall, but completely sucks it off and completely replaces it. "The recommendations on the day of the meeting said that a mask requirement was not considered necessary during the meeting if the minimum distance could be maintained," says the district office.Besel could have made a mask requirement, but did not have to make it mandatory.
Policies were not changed until after the meeting
The so-called British variant of the virus, which is particularly contagious, was rampant in Gmund.
That was also shown in Gmund, writes the district office.
While chains of infection could also be prevented within families at the beginning of the pandemic, this is hardly possible with the British variant.
In the light of the increased infectivity of the virus variants, the Ministry of the Interior changed its guidelines for meetings - but only after the meeting in Gmund.
"The new requirements currently suggest a mask requirement also for committee members", so the district office.
As reported, in the aftermath of the meeting and due to the new requirements, the municipalities in the district reviewed and mostly tightened their infection protection measures.
Gmund is not solely to blame for the long over 100 incidence
Meetings of city and local councils are not prohibited per se.
In order to maintain the ability of the municipal committees to act and make decisions, they are exempt from the restrictions of the Ordinance on Infection Protection Measures.
Whether the district would have fallen below an incidence of 100 much earlier without the Gmund cluster cannot be reliably determined, according to the district administration.
"You can't blame the people of Gmundern for the whole blame: In Weyarn, Irschenberg, Fischbachau and Bayrischzell, significantly higher values were recorded in relation to the number of inhabitants."
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