U-turn: Thuringia postpones 2G plus in gastronomy

Created: 2022-01-18Updated: 2022-01-18, 3:20 p.m

A sign reading "2G+" hangs in a restaurant window.

© Marcus Brandt/dpa/symbol image

Actually, access to gastronomy should also be tightened in Thuringia - vaccinated and recovered should also present a negative corona test.

Thuringia is not implementing the decision of the federal and state governments for the time being.

Erfurt – Thuringia's state government is expected to postpone the introduction of the 2G plus rule in restaurants, cafés and pubs by two weeks.

It will not apply nationwide in gastronomy from January 23, as planned, but only in hotspot regions with an incidence of 1000 or more, government spokesman Falk Neubert said on Tuesday in Erfurt.

With this, the hospitality industry can continue to receive visitors who are vaccinated or recovered.

There is still no additional testing requirement in Thuringia, as is the case with 2G plus.

Above all, the CDU and FDP, but also chambers of industry and commerce had called for this.

They reacted with relief.

However, the FDP and CDU criticized the government and spoke of a zigzag course.

In the first week of January, the federal and state governments had agreed on a Germany-wide 2G plus rule for the catering industry.

Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) then announced that Thuringia would implement this decision from January 23rd.

Neubert justified the surprising adjournment by the state government with the next prime ministers' conference, among other things.

According to the federal and state decision of January 7th, it is planned for next Monday.

Necessary adjustments could then be made in the next Thuringian ordinance.

Tests were also carried out to determine what effects the Omicron coronavirus variant would have in Thuringia.

With the 2G-plus regulation for gastronomy in corona hotspots, Thuringia is also prepared for the eventuality “that the number of infections increases significantly again,” said the government spokesman.

The seven-day incidence in Bavaria, which has been falling for days, also shows that the previous Corona regulation is working.

It should now be changed in two points from Sunday and otherwise updated, said the government spokesman.

Neubert did not want to specify until when it will apply exactly.

more on the subject

Ramelow: 2G plus in restaurants nationwide from January 23

CDU parliamentary group: 2G plus is the death knell for restaurateurs

2G plus hits gastronomy hard: “death blow” for restaurants and pubs?

According to him, one change affects the number of participants in demonstrations, the other the new quarantine rules that the federal and state governments had agreed on. The limit of 35 participants in open-air meetings and demonstrations is to be lifted in Thuringia. According to previous information, however, rallies should continue to be held - with the exception of approved exceptions - only at a fixed location. Participants would have to keep the minimum distance and wear a medical mask or FFP-2 mask.

The quarantine rule for contact persons and the isolation of infected people will be simplified and shortened. Excluded from the quarantine obligation are people without corona symptoms, who are boosted or who were not more than three months previously vaccinated or recovered. A quarantine period of ten days applies to all other contact persons, which can be shortened to seven days for adults and five days for under-18s if the test is negative.

The parliamentary group leader of the opposition CDU parliamentary group, Mario Voigt, explained the adjourned 2G plus rule: “2G plus would have been nothing more than a silent lockdown for Thuringian gastronomy.” A further tightening would have made economic operation impossible for many restaurateurs.

The spokesman for the FDP group in the state parliament, Thomas Kemmerich, explained, "the style, "Into the potatoes, out of the potatoes", is unworthy of a government." dpa