You rarely see people wearing masks - except on long-distance trains and buses. But from this Thursday, the mask requirement will also fall there, as well as in public transport in all federal states. Health Minister Lauterbach nevertheless advises to continue to protect yourself.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach advises wearing masks voluntarily despite the end of the mask requirement on public transport. "I do it too, so as not to risk Long Covid and to protect others," tweeted the SPD politician. At the same time, Lauterbach described the previous measures to avoid large corona winter waves as successful. Therefore, the mask requirement in long-distance traffic can be omitted.
The nationwide mask requirement in long-distance trains and buses will expire on Thursday after almost three years. This will also be the case across the board from Thursday in local transport, for which the federal states are responsible. In some federal states, the mask requirement in public transport has already fallen.
The President of the Society for Pneumology, Torsten Bauer, thinks that is correct. Although there will be more infections, he does not expect this to become a health problem, Bauer said on the RBB. However, Bauer advised particularly vulnerable groups to continue to wear a mask on public transport.
"This is another respiratory disease, we will still see corona infections in ten years. However, the pandemic situation is over," Bauer continued. Almost everyone on this earth should now have antibodies against the corona virus. The disease is therefore taking a completely different course than was seen in 2020.
The mask requirement has already fallen in several federal states. But other central protective measures are also withdrawn. Anyone who becomes infected with the corona virus no longer has to isolate themselves at home in Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt. Thuringia and Saxony will follow suit in the coming days. Several federal states had already ended the isolation requirement. In Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, on the other hand, those infected with corona must continue to isolate themselves for several days.
Users of local public transport in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg can now travel without a mask. In all other federal states in which the obligation to wear mouth and nose protection still applies, this will be the case from Thursday.
The federal corona rules are still valid until April 7th, then, according to the current status, the mask requirement for patients and visitors in practices will no longer apply. In Bavaria, at least employees in medical practices and other outpatient medical facilities have been able to take off their masks since Wednesday.
