BERLIN – Germany will soon drop a mask mandate on long-distance trains and buses, one of the country’s last remaining COVID-19 restrictions, the health minister said on Friday.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced in Berlin that the mandate would fall on February 2.
Other European countries have already abolished mask requirements in public transport, including Lauterbach exposed to increasing pressure follow up in the last few weeks. Masks will remain mandatory in doctors’ offices, while masks and negative tests will still be required to enter hospitals and nursing homes.
Local transport rules are a matter for the 16 state governments, and more and more have dropped or are dropping their mask requirements. Some have also scrapped rules requiring infected people to isolate at home.
Long-distance travel regulations were due to end on April 7, although legislation allows for an earlier suspension if the situation is better than expected.
After one of Germany’s top virologists declared the pandemic was over just after Christmas, Lauterbach – who has long taken a cautious stance – has faced mounting calls from inside and outside the ruling coalition for it to be eliminated.
“The pandemic situation has stabilised,” the minister said on Friday, with the number of known or suspected infections stagnating or falling and the number of hospitalizations continuing to decline.
“The population has built up a high level of immunity and the experts advising us no longer believe there will be another big, serious winter wave,” he added. “We are currently not assuming that particularly dangerous variants will reach us in the coming weeks and months.”
Lauterbach appealed to people who want to continue to protect themselves and others to continue to wear masks voluntarily indoors and on trains.
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