German justice minister tells states to consider abolishing mask wearing rules
As a response to falling coronavirus numbers, Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht called on the federal states on Sunday to review whether mandatory mask wearing is still necessary.
The states must clarify "whether and where a mask requirement is still proportionate given that the incidence figures are low and continue to fall," Lambrecht told Bild Zeitung.
"This also applies to schools, because schoolchildren are particularly affected by the mask-wearing requirement."
Health offices in Germany reported 1,489 new infections to the RKI on Sunday. A week ago 2,440 new infections were reported. A further 18 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours. The 7-day incidence stood at 17 cases per 100,000 people.
Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) went further than Lambrecht, calling for a complete end to mandatory masks.
"With a clear incidence below 35, the government cannot keep restricting basic rights for all citizens," Kubicki said. "The obligation of general mask wearing needs to end, at any rate outside."
The FDP politician predicted that, if the states did not quickly end obligatory mask wearing, courts would overturn the regulations.
Kubicki said that states should instead invest in information campaigns which explain how people in subways and crowds can protect themselves with masks.
"People's own responsibility must once again become a central part of our coexistence - not the constant prescribing of rules of conduct by the state," he urged.
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The states must clarify "whether and where a mask requirement is still proportionate given that the incidence figures are low and continue to fall," Lambrecht told Bild Zeitung.
"This also applies to schools, because schoolchildren are particularly affected by the mask-wearing requirement."
Health offices in Germany reported 1,489 new infections to the RKI on Sunday. A week ago 2,440 new infections were reported. A further 18 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours. The 7-day incidence stood at 17 cases per 100,000 people.
Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) went further than Lambrecht, calling for a complete end to mandatory masks.
"With a clear incidence below 35, the government cannot keep restricting basic rights for all citizens," Kubicki said. "The obligation of general mask wearing needs to end, at any rate outside."
The FDP politician predicted that, if the states did not quickly end obligatory mask wearing, courts would overturn the regulations.
Kubicki said that states should instead invest in information campaigns which explain how people in subways and crowds can protect themselves with masks.
"People's own responsibility must once again become a central part of our coexistence - not the constant prescribing of rules of conduct by the state," he urged.
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