DThe nationwide seven-day incidence of new corona infections has fallen slightly. As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Sunday morning, the value is now 1708.7. On Saturday it was 1735, a week ago it was 1526.8. The value quantifies the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over a period of seven days.
As the RKI further reported, citing data from the health authorities, the absolute number of new infections reported within 24 hours on Sunday was 131,792. 260,239 new infections had been reported the day before, compared to 146,607 a week ago. The total number of registered cases of infection in Germany since the beginning of the corona pandemic has increased to 18,680,017.
Nationwide protective requirements are no longer applicable
According to the RKI, 49 further deaths related to the corona virus were registered within 24 hours. The total number of corona deaths recorded in Germany rose to 126,916.
Regardless of the still high level of infection numbers, the first nationwide protective requirements in Germany are no longer applicable. As of this Sunday, 3-G proof of being vaccinated, recovered or tested is no longer required for train travel with Deutsche Bahn, as the Infection Protection Act now stipulates. However, the mask requirement in local and long-distance public transport continues to apply. The legal obligation for 3-G access proofs at the workplace has now also been lifted. In the future, companies should be able to assess the risk situation themselves and define protective measures in company hygiene concepts.
The chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), Reiner Hoffmann, calls for a speedy reversal of the easing. “We have record incidences, and the situation can get worse again in the fall,” Hoffmann told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “I advocate that the Infection Protection Act and the Covid Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance be tightened up quickly. We must not risk the workplace becoming a source of infection again.”
The 3-G rules at work and in transport had been in effect for almost four months. They are now omitted after changes to the nationwide legal basis, which the Bundestag decided on Friday with votes from the traffic light coalition. This means that the countries are only able to set a few general protective requirements in everyday life, such as masks and tests in facilities for vulnerable groups such as nursing homes and clinics. For regional “hotspots”, however, further restrictions can come if the state parliament determines a particularly critical corona situation for them.
The new regulation has met with sharp criticism from the federal states. Across the parties, prime ministers have accused the federal government of irresponsibly going it alone in corona policy. Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) told the “Bild am Sonntag”: “Instead of a day of freedom, there is a risk of a day of unreasonableness.” We are taking a big step towards normality again.”
All countries now want to use a transitional period of two weeks provided by law. This means that current regulations such as more extensive mask requirements in other areas such as shops and schools or access rules such as 2G and 3G can remain in place until April 2nd at the latest – but with the exception of contact restrictions or upper limits for participants for events. The transitional period should also be able to be used to seal new rules.
The President of the German Teachers’ Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, warned that schools would be released for contamination if the mask requirement in many federal states were quickly abolished. “I am very concerned about how quickly the mask requirement in schools in many federal states will now be eliminated – even though we are still in the middle of the omicron wave and the number of infections is rising again,” he told the editorial network Germany (RND). . “I hope that all this doesn’t fall on our feet anytime soon.”