Schwerin (dpa / mv) - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will stick to the mask requirement in local public transport for the foreseeable future. It is too early to turn away from basic corona protection measures, said Health Minister Stefanie Drese (SPD) on Tuesday after the cabinet meeting.
Drese described the announcements of some federal states - including neighboring Schleswig-Holstein - that the mask requirement on buses and trains might not be extended beyond the end of the year as "dubious". Nobody can predict exactly what the infection situation and the situation in the hospitals will be like at the end of December. "We evaluate the situation in our Corona expert committee on a weekly basis based on various data and parameters and make our decisions based on this," emphasized Drese.
The federal states can decide for themselves in local transport whether there is a mask requirement there, which has been the case everywhere so far. The federal government is responsible for long-distance trains and long-distance buses. According to the current Infection Protection Act, FFP2 masks are mandatory here until April next year.
According to the minister, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is currently between two corona waves. "Due to the BQ. 1.1 variant, which is spreading further, a renewed increase in the numbers is to be expected in the coming weeks," said the minister. The increase will gain momentum due to the cooler season and the fact that people are increasingly staying indoors.
