Senate discusses stricter Coronavirus measures

FFP2 masks could become mandatory on public transport.

Today (Jan 11, 2022), the Berlin Senate will discuss the further course of action in the Coronavirus pandemic in view of the rapid spread of the particularly infectious Omicron variant.

Stricter access rules for the restaurant sector

It can be assumed that the Senate will implement stricter access rules for the restaurant sector at the state level, which were approved by the federal and state governments the previous week. Thus, in the future, only those who have treceived their booster baccination and those who are vaccinated twice and provide a negative test result will have access to places such as restaurants, bars or cafés. The Senate also wants to enshrine the simplified quarantine rules, which the federal and state governments had also approved, in state law.

Stricter mask mandate

The Senate may also decide to tighten the current face mask mandate. Franziska Giffey (SPD), the Governing Mayor of Berlin, and Ulrike Gote (Green Party), the Senator for Health, had recently called for an FFP2 masks mandate for passengers on public transport and in retail stores. FFP2 makss could offer more protection than surgical masks, which are currently still permitted in addition to FFP2 masks. The federal and state governments had decided not to make FFP2 masks mandatory and instead only made an urgent recommendation for such masks to be worn when shopping or taking buses and trains.

New quarantine rules to ensure the fuctioning of critical infrastructure

The new quarantine rules are intended to help ensure the ability of critical infrastructure to function in the event of high infection rates. This includes, for example, healthcare, police and fire departments as well as energy or water suppliers. Those who came in contact with people infected with Corona will be exempt from quarantine if they have already received their booster vaccination, are recently fully vaccinated, are fully vaccinated and recovered from a Covid infection, or recently recovered from a Covid infection. "Recently" here means up to three months. For all others, isolation or quarantine should generally end after ten days unless they "test free" with a PCR test or a certified Antigen rapid test before then. This can be done after seven days of quarantine.