This week, the Bundestag will decide on the Corona regulations for the fall. Some changes are coming to the citizens of Germany. While masks are to continue to apply nationwide in medical practices, this is changing on airplanes.
In the future, a mask requirement will apply nationwide in medical practices. "This serves to protect the vulnerable and particularly endangered groups," said SPD parliamentary group leader Dirk Wiese of the "Rheinische Post". According to information from coalition circles, the mask requirement for patients in medical practices is to be laid down nationwide in the new Infection Protection Act.
At the same time, Wiese confirmed that the originally planned mask requirement in air traffic should now be dropped after all. It is "right and reasonable" to maintain the obligation on long-distance trains, but to refrain from doing so on airplanes. In airplanes, for example, there is a different air circulation due to the suction of the air and the use of filters. "This is different in the ICE," emphasized Wiese.
The FDP had pushed for the waiver of the mask requirement in air traffic. The new regulation affects domestic flights as well as flights from destinations to and from the Federal Republic. "We are following what also applies in the rest of Europe," said Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann of the "Rheinische Post". "That is sensible."
After a long struggle, the traffic light coalition agreed on a new infection protection law in August. The draft provides for the retention of the mask requirement in long-distance rail transport. For access to hospitals, nursing homes or comparable facilities, a test certificate should apply in addition to the mask requirement. There are no other corona rules that apply uniformly throughout Germany.
The draft gives the states the opportunity for further measures - such as a mask requirement in local public transport. The Bundestag is to decide on the law on Thursday, so that it can come into force after the previous regulation expires on September 23.
The Greens were satisfied with the final agreement on the Infection Protection Act. "We have found a compromise that allows us to be more optimistic about the coming autumn and winter than last year," said deputy parliamentary group leader Maria Klein-Schmeink.
Unlike the grand coalition last year, the "traffic light" managed "to launch a package of effective measures in good time before autumn to effectively protect the vulnerable people in our society," she said. It is also regulated that the protective shield for caring relatives will be extended and that the additional children's sick days for parents with statutory insurance can be claimed until the end of 2023.
"During the negotiations, we were also able to ensure that the pandemic radar is supplemented with realistic data on the capacity of the hospitals," explained Klein-Schmeink. However, the extension of the protective shield was unfortunately not enforceable for rehabilitation facilities in the coalition either.
