The obligation turns into a recommendation: In Schleswig-Holstein, wearing a mouth and nose mask in local transport has no longer been mandatory since midnight. However, travelers who cross the state border when driving to nearby Hamburg, for example, must still take a protective mask with them.
In Schleswig-Holstein, passengers on local public transport no longer have to wear masks since the turn of the year. A corresponding regulation of the black-green state government came into force at midnight as announced. Schleswig-Holstein is the third federal state to lift this corona protection measure.
The mask requirement was imposed during the corona pandemic as a condition to contain the infection process. It has now been replaced by the recommendation to cover your mouth and nose on local buses and trains.
The state government in Kiel justified its decision with the development of the number of corona cases. It was said that the situation in the hospitals was tense, but this was due to the high number of patients with other respiratory diseases. The population is also largely immunized by vaccinations and infections, so that illnesses are mostly mild.
In Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, the mask requirement had already been dropped earlier. In Schleswig-Holstein's neighboring countries of Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, passengers on local buses and trains must continue to wear a mask. For long-distance trains and long-distance buses, an FFP2 mask requirement is stipulated nationwide at least until April 7th, i.e. also in Schleswig-Holstein.
