Status: 01/13/2023 11:25 am
Federal Health Minister Lauterbach has announced a relaxation of corona protection measures. The national mask requirement on long-distance transport, especially on long-distance trains, will be lifted on February 2.
The mask requirement on long-distance public transport will drop in the early hours of February 2. The announcement was made by the Federal Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach. The SPD politician justifies the step by saying that the situation in the coronavirus pandemic has stabilized. Another wave of winter infections is not expected, he said.
This was agreed with the countries. The Federal Government may suspend the measure in whole or in part by statutory order. “We just have to rely more on personal responsibility and willingness,” said Lauterbach. He appealed to travelers to voluntarily continue to wear masks on local and long-distance transport.
“The pandemic situation has stabilized”, Karl Lauterbach, SPD, Minister of Health, on the mandatory use of masks in long-distance rail traffic
tagesschau24 11:00, 13.01.2023
Debate on the abolition of mandatory mask
Under the current Infection Protection Act, all travelers on buses and long-distance trains must wear FFP2 masks by April 7. This obligation will now be lifted on February 2, Lauterbach said.
Regulations for local public transportation are at the discretion of the federal states. Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein had already abolished the mask requirement for buses and trains on local transport. Berlin, Brandenburg, Thuringia, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony and Baden-Württemberg plan to withdraw it by early next month at the latest.
After February 2nd, the mask requirement only applies in clinics, nursing homes, doctors’ offices and other healthcare facilities.
FDP has recently increased the pressure
In view of falling crown numbers across the country, calls for an early end to the mask requirement have become increasingly loud. Within the federal government, the FDP in particular insisted on this. More recently, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann spoke in favor of abolishing the mask requirement on long-distance trains by the end of the month. Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) and the Deutsche Bahn general workers’ councils for local and long-distance transport also called for an end to the mask requirement.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) said on Wednesday that the end had to come “as soon as possible”. He also referred to the attrition of railway staff due to the control of the Corona measure.