After almost two years, masks are no longer compulsory in retail in large parts of Germany. Supermarkets, discounters and other shops opened their doors on Monday and, for the first time since spring 2020, were allowed to let in customers who are not wearing mouth and nose covers. The federal and state governments had relaxed their corona measures accordingly. On Friday, the mask requirement had already fallen in Berlin, on Sunday then in most other federal states – there it was already possible to shop in shops that were open on Sundays at the weekend without a mask, for example at train stations. Now the mask requirement is falling on a grand scale.
Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are sticking to the obligation to wear them as part of a so-called hotspot regulation. Other federal states, such as Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, decided not to take such a special route. Since the spring of 2020, wearing a mask in shops has been mandatory nationwide.
In retail, the ending creates mixed feelings. The Verdi union reported concern among employees about the risk of infection. There are also many critical voices among employers.
In a survey of retailers by the Bavarian Retail Association, a narrow majority said they thought the end of the mask requirement was wrong (50.4 percent). 39.2 percent think the abolition is right. According to the survey, 11.7 percent of retailers in Bavaria want to stick to the mask requirement in their shops, while 77.4 percent do not want to prescribe masks by domiciliary rights.
In the case of the large retail chains, customers no longer have to put on a cover either, for example at Rewe, Lidl, Aldi and Edeka, at the furniture retailer Ikea, at the bookseller Thalia or the textile chains Hennes & Mauritz and Primark. Sometimes, however, employees and customers are recommended to continue to wear a mask.
The fact that many retailers have concerns, but only a few continue to make masks compulsory on their premises, is probably due to the fact that business owners fear disadvantages in advertising for customers. This is what the boss of the shirt manufacturer van Laack, Christian von Daniels, calls the end of the state requirement regrettable. However, he does not make use of his domiciliary rights for his van Laack and SØR shops. “If only we required mask wearing and the other retailers didn’t, then that would be a competitive disadvantage – you can’t do that,” says von Daniels.
The German Retail Association emphasizes that it has always been clear that the mask requirement when shopping cannot apply in the long term and will fall as soon as the pandemic situation allows it according to politicians and experts. The general manager of the association, Stefan Genth, expects that mouth and nose covers will continue to be widespread in shops. “We assume that customers will act on their own responsibility and will continue to wear a mask when shopping,” said the association representative. “The majority has gotten used to the mask and usually doesn’t see it as a major limitation.” (dpa)