As of: March 29, 2024, 7:12 a.m
By: Andreas Schmid
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Angela Merkel (CDU), Markus Söder (CSU), Olaf Scholz and Michael Müller (both SPD) wear an FFP2 mask. The RKI also dealt with “dealing with the mask issue” in its minutes. © picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Pool | Bernd von Jutrczenka/RKI protocols (montage)
The Robert Koch Institute's Corona protocols also deal with masks. Was information withheld from the population regarding the FFP2 mask?
For years they were primarily associated with Asian countries, but during Corona they were also supposed to characterize public life here: masks. Mouth and nose protection or FFP2 masks became a symbol of the pandemic. In many places, masks were required to contain the virus. It is scientifically undisputed that mouth and nose protection basically has an effect. However, the extent to which the more complex and expensive FFP2 masks were necessary cannot be proven quite as clearly. This emerges from the released minutes of the Corona Expert Council of the Robert Koch Institute.
RKI Corona protocols: “no evidence for FFP2 masks outside of occupational safety”
At the meeting on October 30, 2020, the RKI explicitly addressed FFP2 masks. They are “an occupational safety measure,” the document says. “If people are not trained/qualified personnel, FFP2 masks have no added value if they are not fitted and used correctly.” It goes on to say: “Use of FFP2 masks should under no circumstances lead to other measures (distance, ventilation) being neglected or be overridden (e.g. not fully occupying a room)”
Things get explosive a few lines later when the RKI notes internally: “There is no evidence for the use of FFP2 masks outside of occupational safety, this could also be made available to the public.” However, the public did not find out anything about this. In 2022, an FFP2 mask requirement should be introduced nationwide - with reference to new Corona variants and updated studies. In some cases, the FFP2 mask requirement had been in effect long before that, for example in Bavaria.
RKI Corona protocols: Documents are blacked out in crucial places
The topic of masks appears right from the start in the Corona protocols and the RKI is generally in favor of wearing masks. The minutes of the first meeting of the RKI Corona Expert Council on January 14, 2020 say: “An FFP2 mask should be recommended for cases confirmed by laboratory diagnostics.”
On April 1, 2020 it says: “Wearing MNS (
i.e. mouth and nose protection, editor’s note
) could be an essential component as extended standard hygiene.” About the success of FFP2 masks it says: “Should FFP2 masks again “Being available and everyone who would make sense wearing it could greatly slow down the spread.” However, the protocols do not always reveal what exactly was discussed. For example, at the meeting on March 30, 2020, the passages on “future handling of the mask issue” were completely blacked out.
How to deal with the “mask question”? There is no answer to this question in the RKI minutes of March 30, 2020. © Screenshot RKI minutes from March 30, 2020.
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On April 9th, mouth and nose protection was described as a “building block in the de-escalation concept” and finally recommended on April 14th. On April 16, the federal government issued an “urgent recommendation” to wear mouth and nose protection. From April 22, 2020, the nationwide mask requirement will apply on local public transport and when shopping.
Schools will open again in spring 2020 – subject to hygiene and distance rules. There are discussions about requiring masks in schools. The RKI stated on June 8th: “A mask requirement in schools could possibly reduce the influenza burden in winter.” Wearing a mask in closed rooms is conceivable, especially with a view to aerosol formation. “However, the corresponding recommendations must also be implementable and acceptable to the general population. It is noted that wearing masks 'torpedoes the core of every lesson' (Chairwoman of the German Association of Philologists Susanne Lin-Klitzing).”
RKI: “FFP masks not recommended for the general population”
In the summer, the corona numbers will fall and the restrictions will be further relaxed. The mask requirement also no longer applies. The RKI said on July 29th: “The use of FFP masks in the general population is not recommended.” At this point in time, the FFP2 mask requirement is not yet a political issue.
That changes in autumn and winter, when the corona numbers rise to record levels. On October 7th, the RKI protocol states: “On infection protection measures and strategy: take it even more seriously now and get everyone involved; especially young adults: ventilate and wear masks even outdoors if the minimum distance is not exceeded.” On October 23rd, the Corona Expert Council will also discuss an “Opinion on FFP2 masks in the general population”. However, crucial passages are blacked out in the documents. On November 9th it was said that a person blacked out in the logs “is currently receiving many inquiries about side effects of masks”. The RKI is then trying to provide a uniform study situation on the topic.
You don't always find out in the RKI minutes what was discussed about masks. For example on October 23, 2020. © Screenshot RKI minutes from October 23, 2020
In November 2020, the federal government tightened the measures and imposed the second partial lockdown - including the requirement to wear a mask with normal mouth and nose protection. The RKI wrote, among other things, on November 25th: “Mask requirements should also be maintained for vaccinated people.”
Things get interesting two days later when the RKI states: “At the suggestion of the Federal Minister of Health, the question arises again as to whether the RKI should recommend MNS for the general population instead of everyday masks.” In other words, official mouth and nose protection. However, the population has become accustomed to “MNB”, i.e. a general mouth and nose covering (including self-sewn ones). “There is concern that if the recommendation is changed, the accusation could arise that the RKI knowingly recommended a 'worse' measure." A simple MNB has a "protective effect, but the number of layers and the type of production are also decisive. Multi-layering and a snug fit are important.”
“If the evidence increasingly speaks in favor of MNS instead of MNB,” there could be adjustments. The FFP2 mask is not an issue in the crisis team meetings at this point. That changes in January 2021, when the corona numbers are high and the vaccination campaign starts. But the RKI blacks out what was specifically discussed.
The RKI minutes from the meeting on January 13, 2021: What was discussed on the subject of FFP2 masks remains unclear. © RKI minutes from January 13, 2021
Bavaria introduces FFP2 mask requirement – RKI: “no explicit recommendation”
On January 15, 2021, the RKI will also be discussing a “review of mask recommendations” and explicitly about Bavaria, where an FFP2 mask requirement is planned at this time. The study situation has not changed: “International recommendations do not provide for the wearing of FFP2 in the general population or explicitly speak out against it.” The FFP2 mask should be reserved for medical staff. “No explicit recommendation/ban for wearing them in other population groups.” The FFP2 mask requirement came into force in Bavaria on January 18th.
How the RKI assesses the mask question is unclear. The Corona protocols published by
Multipolar
magazine
following a request under the Freedom of Information Act will end at the end of April 2021. As Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced on Maundy Thursday, the documents should be presented in a timely manner “largely de-redacted”.
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