Münster (dpa / lnw) – The North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court (OVG) is dealing today (10 a.m.) with a lawsuit by Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. The company opposes the restriction of the sales area to 800 square meters in the first year of Corona. The Corona Protection Ordinance of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia provided for the closure of numerous companies and the limitation of areas in the first wave of the pandemic to protect health. In the spring of 2020, the company was unsuccessful in the urgent procedure. The company Peek
At the end of August, the OVG had already confirmed the line of the state government in the early phase of the corona pandemic and dismissed complaints after oral negotiations on company closures. A gym, a personal trainer, a dance house and a restaurant all lost. The 13th Senate justified these decisions with the fact that at the beginning of the pandemic there were neither vaccines, medicines nor enough medical masks. Science and legislators still knew very little about the pandemic. There were indications that the healthcare system could be overwhelmed.
In the oral hearing, the court wants to clarify whether this justification also justified the limitation of the sales area in the department stores. It is unclear whether the 13th Senate will also announce a verdict on Thursday.
