Bavaria's new Corona course - the Free State is planning these easing despite Omikron

Created: 01/12/2022, 09:00 AM

From: Christian Deutschländer

Prime Minister Markus Söder on the way to the cabinet meeting.

© picture alliance / dpa |

Tobias Rabbit

Omikron infections are increasing sharply - and Bavaria is loosening up.

The coalition is initiating a clear change of course in corona policy.

Munich - Bayern got used to gloomy words on Tuesday.

Every week after the cabinet meeting, a ruler, usually Markus Söder himself, stands in front of the cameras and describes the corona situation along with the necessary measures, admonishes, warns, asks.

This time, his head of state chancellery, Florian Herrmann, is in charge.

“Omikron prevails,” he says.

One should “not make a mistake now”, warns the CSU minister urgently.

But the conclusion is different than usual. What Herrmann and several colleagues are announcing to the press are cautious easing.

Bavaria is not going along the nationwide path to make access to gastronomy more difficult.

The 2G rule remains in the Free State, without a test requirement.

Because bars and discos are closed anyway, argues Herrmann, and because there is a nationwide 10 p.m. curfew, this is justifiable.

Corona in Bavaria: Aiwanger speaks out in favor of easing the culture

There could be easing for the culture in the medium term.

So far, “2G plus” has applied, ie admission only for vaccinated and convalescent people with either a fresh test or a third vaccination, plus mask and distance.

In the industry, many feel in comparison to the economies (no mask, less distance, 2G).

The plan is now to at least increase the workload in one of the next cabinet meetings;

previously capped at 25 percent.

“We would like more dense seating,” says Hubert Aiwanger, Minister of Economics for the Free Voters.

There are also plans to relax the hotspot rules that are strict in Bavaria.

So far, an incidence of 1000 or more has to be closed in every district - gastronomy, culture, sport at least.

The state government wants to shift this limit.

None of the ministers has given a number yet, there have been whispers of 3000, perhaps in combination with “2G plus” in the catering industry.

State Chancellor Herrmann praises that one will not decide that "oops-hops".

His baseline, however: If Omikron is much more contagious, but leads to fewer hospital cases, that is possible.

Current corona rules in Bavaria: These relaxations have been decided

It has already been decided to make it easier for young people between the ages of 12 and 17. Because they are regularly tested in school, the 2G rules do not apply to them in the long-term as they do to adults. In addition, Bayern wants to count twice vaccinated people who have survived a breakthrough and have now recovered as boosted. This now affects many thousands of cases.

With the quarantine rules, Bavaria adopts the nationwide plans.

Those who are infected have to isolate themselves for ten days - whether with the Delta or Omicron variant.

This also applies to close contact persons.

After seven days you can test yourself.

Schoolchildren as well as daycare and kindergarten children who have to be in quarantine as contact persons can in future be free to test themselves after five days.

What is new is that those who have been boosted and those who have recently been vaccinated no longer have to be quarantined if they are only contact persons.

That should apply at least from the weekend, a federal legal basis is still missing here.