After the mask requirement on buses and trains has already fallen in Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein will follow suit at the beginning of the year. Prime Minister Günther regrets that a common solution for all federal states failed.
As announced, the mask requirement on buses and trains will expire in Schleswig-Holstein at the end of the year. After an expert hearing, the state government agreed on this. Against the background of the infection process, it will be voluntary in the future and recommends wearing a mask. “We are continuously moving towards normality,” said Prime Minister Daniel Günther of the CDU. The government is relying on more personal responsibility, mutual consideration and common sense as the most important remedy against Corona. “We got through the pandemic well in Schleswig-Holstein.” A joint solution for all countries was not possible.
With a view to the current wave of respiratory diseases, Health Minister Kerstin von der Decken said that only a small percentage of diseases are caused by the corona virus. “The mutated virus also hits a population that has now been largely immunized by vaccination and infections, so that the course of the disease is mostly mild,” said the CDU politician.
The black-green state government is thus following the example of Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, where the mask requirement has already been eliminated. The governments of both countries justified their decisions with a stable infection situation. Unlike these countries, the neighboring state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania continues to adhere to the mask requirement. It also continues to apply in Hamburg. The Hanseatic city wants to keep the mask requirement until spring.
As early as November 17th, the general obligation to isolate people who tested positive for Corona was no longer applicable in Schleswig-Holstein. The state had agreed with Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse on this further step towards normality.
The Federal Government’s Corona Expert Council is critical of the different implementation of the measures that are the responsibility of the federal states. “It is obvious that we would fundamentally welcome if there were more or less uniform nationwide regulations. Because it is difficult to convey that we have different rules when moving from one federal state to another,” said Heyo Kroemer, chairman of the committee in Schwerin. Kroemer, the chairman of the Berlin Charité, called the federal guidelines “appropriate”.
