The majority of Germans want to continue wearing masks

Although Germany has announced the end of restrictive measures to fight against COVID-19 from March 20 and the 2-week transition period to completely abolish anti-epidemic regulations also ended on April 2, most people still want to continue to maintain their jobs. wear the mask when out shopping or in crowded public places.

The results of Insa’s Berlin opinion poll published on April 3 in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed that 63% of more than 1,000 respondents still chose to wear a mask when going to the supermarket even though it is no longer available. is mandatory in most states. Only 29% of survey respondents said they did not want to wear a mask and 8% refused to answer.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach also supported the continued wearing of masks in public indoor spaces. He affirmed that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is still quite high, so people should not be subjective. The head of the health sector emphasized that 200 to 300 people still die from COVID-19 every day, showing that a great danger is still lurking.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner, although in favor of ending restrictive measures to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, said that vaccination and testing should still be free. Mr. Lindner affirmed that as Finance Minister, he will ensure that free testing and vaccination will be maintained for the people.

Treatment of COVID-19 patients in Germany. Photo: AP

Meanwhile, some other views believe that ending anti-epidemic measures at this time is too early. The chairman of the CSU parliamentary group Alexander Dobrindt advocates maintaining the mask rule, saying that at a time when the number of COVID-19 cases remains very high, ending most protective measures is too much. Soon.

The head of the medical group of the Marburger Bund Professional Association, Susanne Johna, urged people to continue to wear masks in public places with enclosed spaces. According to her, in supermarkets and restaurants, masks are especially important to prevent the possibility of virus infection.

The rate of COVID-19 infection in Germany has decreased over the past few days but remains high. According to statistics from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the incidence rate in the past 7 days in this country was recorded at 1,457.9 cases per 100,000 people, down from 1,723.8 cases per 100,000 cases a week earlier. .

According to the new regulations, as of April 2, the 2G (injected or recovered from COVID-19) and 3G (injected, recovered or negative test results) rules are no longer available. Applicable in most German states. This means that people no longer have to present a “vaccination certificate”, recover or test negative when visiting most public places. Even people are no longer required to wear masks in shops, museums, restaurants or schools… across the country, unless those facilities require it or the area is considered a “hotspot” ” pandemic.

Currently, the two states of Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have declared themselves “hot spots”, which means they can continue to maintain current restrictive measures such as mandatory mask wearing, 2G/3G rules are still imposed. when going to public places.

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