Schleswig-Holstein’s state government wants to relax a whole range of corona regulations. From February 9th, only masks will be compulsory in shops, customers will then no longer have to prove that they have recovered or have been vaccinated. In addition, there will be no curfew in the catering trade, as Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) announced in Kiel on Wednesday. The country wants to “move a bit towards normality”.
The head of government also announced changes to events, but the country will wait for a planned nationwide decision. At larger outdoor events – such as in the football stadium – this will probably include up to 10,000 spectators with a maximum occupancy of 30 percent of the seats. Inside, up to 4,000 visitors are in discussion at a maximum of half capacity. This would also apply to handball games.
Günther justified the easing by saying that the omicron variant of the corona virus is more contagious but less dangerous. Severe courses are hardly to be found among vaccinated people. “With our vaccination rate, we are about the same as our neighbor Denmark, which is lifting all restrictions,” said the head of government. However, the number of people who have recovered is many times higher there.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, the north was currently in 13th place among the federal states with a seven-day incidence (895.2) and the burden on hospitals remained moderate – a decisive criterion for new measures. The state government had exchanged views with its panel of experts on Monday about how to proceed.
For the time being, there is no further relaxation for the gastronomy apart from the elimination of the curfew. 2G plus continues to apply there – only vaccinated or recovered people are allowed access if they have had a booster vaccination or present a negative test. (dpa)