The number of infections is rising, and the situation could get even worse in the autumn. Justice Minister Buschmann therefore wants to present a concept for a new infection protection law soon. The mask should "certainly play a role". The FDP politician, on the other hand, rules out other measures.
According to Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann, the new Infection Protection Act could again provide for a far-reaching mask requirement. “We will probably present a concept later this month. The mask will certainly play a role there,” said the FDP politician to the “Welt am Sonntag”. It is about "adapted behavior to the situation: If the danger decreases, then you have to withdraw the measures. If the danger increases, then you have to counteract it appropriately". The evaluation report on the effectiveness of the previous corona measures confirmed that the medical mask indoors had “a very good cost-benefit ratio”, said Buschmann.
As far as possible access restrictions in public spaces through 2G or 3G rules are concerned, the minister said: "We will have to talk about that now. We also have to take a close look at what effects the vaccines have and under what conditions this could apply." He is personally skeptical, "but we will now discuss it carefully."
Buschmann clearly rejected new lockdowns. "For all we know, lockdowns, school closures and curfews are no longer proportionate today, in my view." Such measures could only be taken, if at all, in the early stages of a pandemic. "Now we are in the third year. And if we know today that these measures have a very bad cost-benefit profile, then we should finally say goodbye to them," he said.
In its report on the Corona measures in Germany, a committee of experts sharply criticized the data situation and the occurrence of restrictions on fundamental rights on Friday. According to their own statements, the experts were therefore unable to evaluate individual measures - with one exception: wearing a mask indoors was rated as useful for reducing the incidence of infection. As far as 2G rules and school closures are concerned, the committee did not make any clear statements.
Federal Minister of Justice Buschmann only expressed skepticism about the reintroduction of the mask requirement in mid-June. Apparently, he did not consider their usefulness to be scientifically proven. “If the state wants to prescribe masks, for example indoors, it must be evidence-based and proportionate. We will discuss whether that is the case when all reports are available,” said the FDP politician at the time.
