"Walks" without a mask during the Omikron wave: the district office waits and is silent

Created: 01/23/2022, 10:00 am

By: Sebastian Tauchnitz, Franziska Seliger

The omicron variant is rampant in the district.

Nevertheless, the district office continues to tolerate the unregistered "walks", where the mask requirement and distance regulations are often ignored.

© picture alliance/dpa/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/Pavlo Gonchar

The incidence values ​​are increasing faster and faster due to the omicron wave, which is why numerous critical infrastructure facilities have already drawn up emergency plans. And yet, week after week, numerous, often unregistered, "corona walks" take place in various towns and communities in the district. No mask requirement, no distance rules, no responsible persons.

District

– The Bavarian Administrative Court recently stated in a judgment crystal clear: "Unregistered demonstrations are not 'walks'", but unregistered demonstrations. Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann warned once again on Friday: "Bavaria's highest administrative court has made it very clear that the assembly authorities do not have to wait and see if infection control measures are systematically disregarded until there is a risk of infection and riots." The district office has had one so far took a different view and announced last week that they would continue to tolerate the events. A question from the local newspaper as to whether this legal opinion was still adhered to went unanswered on Friday.

In Penzberg, this attitude is now viewed with skepticism. After around 1,500 people took part in the properly registered Corona demonstration in Penzberg last Monday, the town hall now has certain concerns about future “walks” in the city center. As Mayor Stefan Korpan announced on Friday when asked, the city had communicated these concerns to the district office. According to Korpan, the city believes that the city square is becoming increasingly crowded as the number of participants increases. Even when walking through the city center, distance rules could and would be observed less and less. Nevertheless, there is no obligation to wear a mask. "The district office has taken note of our concerns," said Korpan. On Monday, however, the “walk” in Penzberg will still take place in the same place.Then the district office wanted to "observe the situation from Monday to Monday". The Berghalde could be considered as a possible alternative location for the demonstrations, as city hall spokesman Thomas Sendl said.