While Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt are abolishing the obligation to wear masks on buses and trains, the southwest is sticking to the requirement in local transport for the time being. But not everyone is happy with the state government's decision.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - In contrast to other federal states, Baden-Württemberg does not want to change the mask requirement for bus and train passengers for the time being. The southwest will stick to this target, as Minister President Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) announced on Tuesday in Stuttgart. Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, on the other hand, were the first federal states to decide to abolish the obligation to wear masks on buses and trains in the coming days.
The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Health announced that the mask requirement in local public transport is stipulated in the Corona state ordinance, which will apply until the end of January 2023. "A change is currently not planned," it said there. The mask is a simple, measured and effective instrument and the interference with individual freedom is minimal. "In addition, many groups of people cannot choose whether they use public transport or not."
FDP faction leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke, on the other hand, contradicted Kretschmann and the Ministry of Health. "A state obligation is no longer justified here either, not least because of the falling number of severe corona cases," he said. From his point of view, wearing the mask voluntarily for one’s own protection works in many other places. "The public transport does not need a special role with state regulations."
Stuttgart's Lord Mayor Frank Nopper (CDU) is also in favor of an end to the mask requirement on buses and trains. In the southwest, a mask recommendation is sufficient, especially for vulnerable population groups on buses and trains, said Nopper on Tuesday.
According to Noppers, who is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Stuttgarter Strassenbahn AG, local transport companies are finding it increasingly difficult to enforce the mask requirement. "It is incomprehensible why there should still be a mask requirement on buses and trains, while the mask requirement has long since ceased to exist in the tightest of crowds at Christmas markets, in retail, in football stadiums and in commercial aircraft," said Nopper.
