Before the turn of the year, the debate about the obligation to wear a corona mask on buses and trains flared up again. In Thuringia’s local transport, the willingness to wear a mask is decreasing according to observations by bus operators.
Erfurt/Leipzig (dpa/th) – Despite the corona regulations in public transport that still apply in Thuringia, more and more people are sitting on buses without masks. “The proportion of passengers who do not use any of the prescribed masks in local public transport is increasing,” said the managing director of the Association of Central German Bus Companies, Tilman Wagenknecht, of the German Press Agency. Since the mask requirement in schools and at major events has fallen, the willingness to wear a mask on the buses has also decreased. Nevertheless, there are still many passengers who wear a mask for their own protection.
A mask must be worn on buses, trams and local trains in Thuringia for the time being. The Ministry of Health had extended the corresponding corona rules until February 3rd. By the end of March at the latest, the mask requirement in Thuringia should also fall on buses and regional trains. In the neighboring states of Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, this is already being dispensed with. On long-distance trains, on the other hand, the obligation to wear an FFP2 mask continues to apply nationwide.
Wagenknecht criticized a lack of uniformity. This is the result of political decisions. His association has also not been consulted by the Ministry of Health for a long time about how to deal with the obligation to wear a mask on buses.
Deutsche Bahn did not provide any further information on the number of people who refused to wear masks on their local and long-distance trains. “The majority of passengers still adhere to the mask requirement,” said a spokeswoman. No information was given on the question of how the railways would control the obligation to wear masks on local trains that run between Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, for example.
The debate about abolishing all corona restrictions flared up again nationwide after the virologist Christian Drosten said in a newspaper interview, among other things, that he believed the pandemic was over. In response, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) called for “the last corona protection measures” to be ended.
