Erfurt (dpa/th) - Masks must continue to be worn in Thuringia on buses and trains, in doctor's offices, hospitals and nursing homes. This is provided for by the Corona Ordinance, which will come into force on August 17 and apply until September 13, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday in Erfurt. This would extend the measures previously in place to contain the corona pandemic by a further four weeks. There are no changes - not even with detailed regulations.

Visiting hospitals and care facilities will then only be permitted for people who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative. Health Minister Heike Werner (left) justified the mask requirement in some areas and the requirements for visitors in the medical and nursing sector with the relatively strong wave of infections for the summer months.

The rule introduced four weeks ago, according to which children between the ages of five and eleven years old in medical and nursing facilities no longer have to be tested, even if they have only received one vaccination, also applies.

According to data from the Robert Koch Institute, the seven-day incidence in Thuringia was 198.8 on Monday - with a downward trend for some time. In a comparison of the federal states, the Free State currently has the lowest number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week.