Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - From the point of view of the North Rhine-Westphalian Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU), the federal government's proposals for a new infection protection law are basically going in the right direction. "For me as Minister of Health, it is quite conceivable for me as Minister of Health to wear masks indoors in autumn and winter, depending on the infection situation," said Laumann on Thursday in Düsseldorf. This option would be made possible by the bill. "A medical mask should be sufficient," emphasized the CDU politician.
"I welcome the fact that the federal government has submitted concrete proposals and wants to discuss them with the federal states." The concept largely enables the strategy that the state government has developed. However, there are also “individual regulations in the draft that, in our opinion, cannot be justified in terms of infection or can hardly be implemented in practice”.
According to the draft presented in Berlin on Wednesday, the federal states should be allowed to impose mask requirements again from October to protect against a corona wave in autumn. A mask requirement on buses, trains and planes should therefore continue to apply nationwide, as well as a new mask and test requirement in hospitals and care facilities.
The countries should decide for themselves whether they also require FFP2 masks in publicly accessible indoor areas. In restaurants and at cultural and sporting events, there should be exceptions for tested, newly vaccinated and recently recovered people. Radical measures, such as school and company closures, are no longer an option, said Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP).
"I think it's a good thing that there are a few other regulatory options that require parliamentary approval in the event of significant threats to medical care," said Laumann. "We will get by with the current virus variants." If a more dangerous variant comes up, the federal government can quickly give the federal states additional tools by declaring an epidemic situation. "But then he has to live up to this responsibility without a long political argument," demanded Laumann.
Next, the Federal Cabinet will deal with the proposals of the Federal Ministers of Health and Justice. A conference of health ministers is also scheduled to discuss them on August 9th. The Bundestag is then to decide on the new Corona rules from October.
