Despite the high number of corona infections, the first nationwide protective requirements in Germany are no longer applicable. As of this Sunday, 3G proof of being vaccinated, recovered or tested is no longer required for train travel with Deutsche Bahn, as the Infection Protection Act now stipulates. However, the mask requirement in local and long-distance public transport continues to apply. The legal obligation for 3G access proofs at the workplace has now also been lifted. In the future, companies should be able to assess the risk situation themselves and define protective measures in company hygiene concepts.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the value of new corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Sunday morning as 1708.7. For comparison: the day before the value was 1735.0, a week ago it was 1526.8 (previous month: 1346.3). The health authorities in Germany reported 131,792 new corona infections to the RKI within one day. Experts assume a high number of cases that are not recorded in the RKI data. One reason is the limited capacity of health authorities, for example. Contacts are often only tracked to a limited extent.
The chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), Reiner Hoffmann, calls for a speedy reversal of the relaxation of the corona virus. “We have record incidences, and the situation can get worse again in the fall,” Hoffmann told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Online Sunday / Print Monday). “I advocate that the Infection Protection Act and the Covid Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance be tightened up quickly. We must not risk the workplace becoming a source of infection again.”
The 3G rules at work and in transport had been in effect for almost four months. They are now omitted after changes to the nationwide legal basis, which the Bundestag decided on Friday with votes from the traffic light coalition. This means that the countries are only able to set a few general protective requirements in everyday life, such as masks and tests in facilities for vulnerable groups such as nursing homes and clinics. For regional “hotspots”, however, further restrictions can come if the state parliament determines a particularly critical corona situation for them.
The new regulation has met with sharp criticism from the federal states. Across the parties, prime ministers have accused the federal government of irresponsibly going it alone in corona policy. Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) told the “Bild am Sonntag”: “Instead of a day of freedom, there is a risk of a day of unreasonableness.” Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) contradicted: “From now on we are moving people’s personal responsibility forward. We are again taking a big step towards normality.”
All countries now want to use a transition period of two weeks provided for in the law. This means that currently existing regulations such as more extensive mask requirements in other areas such as shops and schools or access rules such as 2G and 3G can remain in place until April 2nd at the latest – but with the exception of contact restrictions or upper limits for participants for events. The transitional period should also be able to be used to seal new rules. (dpa)