Corona: Further mask and test obligations should end on March 1st

In view of the stable corona situation, further protection requirements throughout Germany are to expire prematurely on March 1st. The health ministers of the federal and state governments agreed on the earlier end of the mask and test requirements for employees and residents in health and care facilities, which should actually apply until April 7th.

For visits to medical practices, clinics and nursing homes, however, the mask requirement should remain, as the Federal Ministry announced. The last specifications should gradually end by Easter. Criticism came from patient advocates.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said: “The pandemic is not over yet. But the pandemic has lost its terror. The virus can be managed in everyday life.” Really dangerous new virus variants are neither to be seen nor to be feared at the present time. It is also increasingly possible to avoid severe corona courses with the immunity achieved in the population. Consequences would now be drawn from this. Green health expert Janosch Dahmen spoke of the “next stage on the responsible path out of the pandemic”. Everyday life becomes easier for patients and staff without high risk, he told the German Press Agency.

Remaining defaults end in two steps

In concrete terms, the remaining requirements should end in two steps – on March 1st and then on Good Friday, April 7th, when the statutory Corona regulations will expire altogether anyway. An overview:

Masks are to be relaxed by March 1st for employees and residents of health facilities – but not yet for visits. The mask requirement for doctors and nurses in clinics, for staff in practices and nursing homes, and for people who live in nursing homes should be abolished. But she should stay for visits to practices, clinics and nursing homes. “Anyone who visits patients or residents, who makes doctor’s appointments, must continue to wear a mask,” said Lauterbach. “The protection of vulnerable groups should be worth it to us.” This also includes facilities for dialysis, outpatient surgery, day clinics and rescue services.

Tests: All remaining test obligations are to end on March 1st. A current rapid test is still prescribed if you want to go to clinics or nursing homes – for visits and at certain intervals also for employees. The requirements for the test obligations now also follow the financing schedule: The offer of free “citizen tests” for everyone, even without symptoms, which has already been greatly reduced, will only run up to and including February 28, as previously determined.

The chairman of the state health ministers, Manne Lucha (Greens) from Baden-Württemberg, welcomed the lifting of the test obligations. “This creates clarity and is responsible in view of the endemic situation in which we now find ourselves with Corona.” The Bavarian head of department Klaus Holetschek criticized different rules for masks. “The employee who rushes from room to room can do this without a mask – the visitor, who usually only visits one resident, but not,” said the CSU politician with a view to nursing homes. He called for all mask requirements to be completely abolished by March 1st.

Patient Protector Critical: Shield is getting weaker

The German Foundation for Patient Protection criticized the shortening of the protective measures. “This year alone there are already 4,600 corona deaths,” said board member Eugen Brysch to the editorial network Germany. For months, the federal and state governments have been making sure that the last protective shield for the seriously ill, in need of care and the very old is getting weaker and weaker.

Lauterbach emphasized that the protection rules with masks and tests that had been in place for months had worked. This gives scope to relax measures earlier than planned. He emphasized that the proportion of Covid deaths in nursing homes has fallen sharply. In preparation for a potentially more critical situation this winter, several nationwide corona regulations were included in the Infection Protection Act. Most recently, the mask requirement on long-distance trains was suspended at the beginning of February. According to the regulations of the federal states, there are no longer any mask requirements in local transport. Gradually, the countries had also phased out the obligation to isolate infected people.

In the traffic light coalition, the FDP is putting pressure on further easing more quickly. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) said: “I will continue to advocate that we critically examine whether the few remaining regulations can be lifted before they actually expire at the beginning of April.” Green health expert Dahmen emphasized: “Caution and careful monitoring of the situation remain the order of the day in Corona policy.” The obligation to wear masks during visits remains important to protect vulnerable people.