Journalist lands in Munich: After a subway ride, he puzzles over the Corona rules
Created: 2022-11-27 04:55
By: Christian Einfeldt
Journalist Mattheis fuels the debate about the mask requirement on Twitter.
He claims to have discovered a contradiction - there is support from his community.
Munich – As is so often the case, the current Bavarian corona policy is the subject of much discussion.
In politics, too, there is a dispute about the right amount of rules.
CSU politician Klaus Holetschek recently made statements of this kind.
The mask requirement, a measure that continues to apply nationwide, has long since ceased to be undisputed.
At German airports, for example, it has no longer applied since October - but this is different in Munich's local public transport system.
An incomprehensible contradiction for journalist Philipp Mattheis.
"Without any basis": Corona mask requirement in Munich's public transport causes incomprehension
The journalist reported via Twitter about a personal experience that irritated him a bit.
In the discourse about the currently applicable Corona rules, it is above all the conflicting provisions that make Mattheis doubt politics.
"Nothing new, but still crazy," writes the journalist: "Three hours on the plane without a mask, then the subway guard in Munich will happily check the passengers to see if the masks are on properly."
Equally "ridiculous", as one Twitter commentator put it, is when train passengers leave a neighboring European country and then re-enter Germany.
While in many other European countries only a recommendation is made, travelers crossing the national border must put on the mask again.
Philipp Mattheis, a former journalist for the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
or
Wirtschaftswoche
, is now facing the Corona legislation with a great deal of incomprehension.
Corona rules: Masks are still compulsory in Munich public transport.
(Iconic image) © Sven Hoppe/dpa
Picked up on the plane, still mandatory in the subway: Masks are mandatory in Bavaria
A medical mask is sufficient in public transport, but an FFP2 mask is required in clinics, long-distance trains, nursing homes or medical practices.
This emerges from the provisions of the now 17th Bavarian Infection Protection Measures Ordinance.
Critics find it difficult to understand that wearing a mask is still mandatory in many parts of everyday life.
“The air is cleaned on airplanes”: why other corona measures apply in Munich’s public transport
The other side of the discourse - represented here by the professor and virologist Franz-Xaver Reichl, who works at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich - counters: "The risk of infection without a mask is particularly high in rush-hour traffic." If the lifting of the mask requirement, which has been in force since October 1, would contradict public transport corona measures, Reichl would counter as follows.
"The air is cleaned on airplanes, where you would have to cough on someone directly to infect them."
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The legal situation surrounding the obligation to wear masks continues to polarize – this was impressively documented once again in the journalist’s tweet.
However, it is quite possible that the criticism from Mattheis and Co. will soon have an effect.
According to a proposal by Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), the mask requirement could be lifted as early as December 9th – that is when the current Corona regulation expires.
At the same time as the end of the obligation to isolate was announced, the latest possible date on which the mask should fall in Bavaria was announced at the beginning of January 2023.
The recommendation remains – but traveling by train and bus without a mask would then no longer cost 250 euros.
