Bavaria says goodbye to the mask requirement before Christmas and is thus taking the second major relaxation step in the corona measures within a short time. Only a few days ago, the obligation to isolate people who tested positive fell there.
In Bavaria, the mask requirement in local public transport will be abolished on December 10th. This is no longer appropriate due to the current stable infection situation, according to government circles. From December 10th there should only be one recommendation to wear the masks.
To protect against the transmission of infections with the corona virus, Bavaria, like other federal states, decided in April 2020 to wear mouth and nose covers in public. As the number of severe corona diseases fell, the obligation was gradually withdrawn. Local public transport, where there are often crowds on buses and trains and physical contact among passengers, is one of the last public situations in which masks are required in Bavaria.
The obligation to wear masks in local public transport has always been a point of contention in the public debate, including in state politics. Most recently, the Free Voters had campaigned vehemently for the rapid abolition and insisted on the voluntariness for the citizens.
Doctors, on the other hand, are of the opinion that the mask requirement should remain or even be expanded, since covering the mouth and nose not only protects against the transmission of corona viruses, but also against other viral diseases, such as the influenza viruses currently circulating or the RS virus children.
The health ministers of the federal states had not initially found any agreement on further changes to the corona protection specifications on Monday evening in Magdeburg. Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate had previously lifted the isolation requirement of at least five days for those who tested positive. No uniform line was decided on how to proceed with the mask requirement in buses and trains in local transport. For long-distance trains, this is stipulated by law nationwide until April 7, 2023.
