After Bayern offensive: virologist considers the end of the mask requirement to be “medically justifiable”
Created: 12/07/2022 10:14 am
By: Bona Hyun
Two federal states are tipping the mask requirement in public transport.
virologist dr.
Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit considers a repeal to be “medically justifiable”.
© Julian Rettig/dpa (symbol image)
End of the mask requirement in public transport – two federal states are already overturning the protection requirement.
From a medical point of view, this is a reasonable decision.
Bavaria – The number of infections is increasing, the flu wave hits earlier this year: Efficient protective regulations are important right now.
This includes, among other things, the obligation to wear a mask on buses and trains.
But in Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, the mask requirement in public transport is history.
Medicine had considered it sensible to wear masks in local public transport, since covering the mouth and nose protects against the transmission of corona viruses and other viral diseases.
virologist dr.
Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit now considers the end of a mask requirement in public transport to be “justifiable from a medical point of view”, as he
told the district
newspaper .
End of public transport mask requirement: virologist considers the decision to be medically justifiable
Schmidt-Chanasit estimates that even if the mask requirement in public transport was introduced as a protective measure, lifting it would not have any devastating consequences from a medical point of view.
According to Schmidt-Chanasit, a look at the neighboring countries and abroad would show that the lifting of the mask requirement has not led to any “dramatic infection events” so far.
According to the virologist, the situation is similar when the mask requirement is lifted on airplanes.
In addition to the risks and benefits, the protective measures would particularly depend on the efficiency, which politicians would have to weigh up, Schmidt-Chanasit told the district
newspaper
.
After Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria is tipping the mask requirement in public transport and is receiving criticism from Lower Saxony
Many citizens could long for an end to the public transport mask requirement, as this would mean a step towards normality.
However, with regard to the current health situation in Germany, health experts had called for a mask to be worn out of solidarity.
Nevertheless, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt have overturned the mask requirement in public transport.
In Bavaria, from December 10th, there will only be a recommendation to wear masks on buses and trains.
After the announcement, Lower Saxony already complained about Bavaria's end of a mask requirement in public transport and called for caution.
According to the district
newspaper
, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Health does not consider it “wise to give up the few basic protective measures in force in the middle of the third pandemic winter”.
The Ministry of Health thus positioned itself contrary to Transport Minister Olaf Lies, who advocated abolishing the obligation to wear masks on buses and trains.
Debate about a uniform mask requirement: Health ministers cannot come to a uniform solution
The question of the end of a mask requirement remains unresolved in many federal states.
With the most recent decision in politics, the discussion about a uniform mask requirement was a big topic.
Health experts such as Lauterbach and the Robert Koch Institute made it clear again on Monday that there were no reasons to say now that masks and the obligation to isolate corona infected people could be dispensed with.
Lauterbach also referred to the spread of the RS virus, which is spreading rapidly in Germany.
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But in the end, the federal and state health ministers did not come to an agreement on the corona protection requirements - including the obligation to wear a mask, as a spokeswoman for the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Health told the
ARD
Tagesschau.
According to this, some countries want to extend the public transport mask requirement until the end of the year, others until after the winter.
Others wanted to turn the obligation into a recommendation.
Irrespective of this, there would be a legal obligation to wear masks on long-distance trains until 2023.
