Debate on the abolition of the mask requirement on buses and trains

Created: 2022-12-05Updated: 2022-12-05, 7:25 p.m

A passerby carries an FFP2 mask in his hand.

© Boris Roessler/dpa/symbol image

Will masks be compulsory in public transport in Saxony-Anhalt?

The cabinet will deal with this question this Tuesday.

In any case, the health ministers of the federal states have not found a uniform line.

Magdeburg – Saxony-Anhalt’s Left and Greens have warned that corona protection measures such as the obligation to wear masks in public transport will expire this week.

The government factions of the CDU and FDP had already announced that they would no longer be required to wear masks on buses and trains, the Greens in the state parliament said on Monday.

"That would be fatal, because Corona is not over.

In view of the winter and the increased infection rate, it is incomprehensible that the basic protection in public transport, in clinics and facilities should be phased out and thus restrict the opportunities for vulnerable groups to participate," says health policy spokeswoman Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz.

The country's current Corona Containment Ordinance expires this Wednesday (December 7th).

The cabinet will advise tomorrow, Tuesday, on how to proceed afterwards.

The Ministry of Social Affairs is presenting a draft that provides for the existing measures to be continued until the end of the year, according to a spokeswoman.

From a technical point of view, given the pandemic situation and the current burden on hospitals, it makes sense to maintain the mask requirement in public transport for as long.

On Monday, the focus was on the consultations of the health ministers of the federal states.

For the time being, however, the heads of department did not find a new line for further changes to the corona protection requirements.

The ministers had exchanged views, but there was no uniform approach, for example to the mask requirement on buses and trains, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Social Affairs after the consultations.

Most countries wanted to extend the mask requirement in public transport by the end of the year, some beyond.

In part, the obligation should become a recommendation.

The decision of the cabinet in Magdeburg remains to be seen.

The spokeswoman said that the isolation requirement for corona positives recommended by the Robert Koch Institute will be adhered to in Saxony-Anhalt.

It is regulated by decree and not in the state ordinance.

Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate have lifted the isolation requirement of at least five days for those who have tested positive, which the RKI still recommends.

"The end of the corona protection measures will push our health system further beyond the limits of resilience," explained the health policy spokeswoman for the left-wing parliamentary group, Nicole Anger.

“In addition, RS viruses are currently rampant, with which many small children in particular become infected.

The stations in the hospitals are already overcrowded, the medical specialists and nursing staff have been working on the attack for more than two years.” The abolition of the mask requirement in public transport puts children and vulnerable groups in particular at an increased risk of infection.

dpa