President Olaf Scholes said Wednesday that Germany, which has passed the peak of the COVID-19 disease, will begin to drop controls, according to the AFP, Agerpres.
Europe’s major economic power will launch a three-phase easing program by March 20 aimed at removing “most of the restrictions currently in place,” Scholes told a news conference after a meeting with heads of state’s 16 states.
“We can look to the future with more optimism than the last few weeks,” he said.
However, he urged citizens to continue wearing masks as “the epidemic is not over yet”.
Germany, hit by the fifth strongest wave after France and Britain, recorded nearly 220,000 new cases in 24 hours on Wednesday, and the seven-day event rate has crossed 1,400.
But German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the “peak of the Omicron wave was over”.
The government and the laundromat have agreed to phase out the restrictions.
“By the beginning of spring, on March 20, restrictions on social, cultural and economic life will be gradually lifted,” the government document discussed by the AFP said.
The ceiling will be raised on the number of people allowed for private meetings, currently limited to 10 people who have been vaccinated or are currently ill. However, he will not be vaccinated until the end of March.
Vaccination obligations to conditionally access important places of social or cultural life will be relaxed or eliminated.
While there may be potential for change, the rules that encourage companies to allow employees in telecommunications as much as possible will also disappear.
As for checks on access to stores based on vaccination certificates and identification documents, they will soon be phased out across Germany.
Wearing a surgical or FFP2 mask is mandatory, especially on public transportation or at home.
From March 4, restrictions on restaurants and hotels will disappear, and clubs and nightclubs will reopen for people who have been vaccinated, sick, or tested.
Certain measures such as controlling aggression up to 60% in indoor capacity and up to 75% in outdoor capacity will continue to be used in playgrounds, and access to key events will only be possible with vaccination approval.
At his press conference on Wednesday, Scholz pointed out that it was the policy of the German government to implement a corona virus vaccination order, although the introduction of the obligation was blocked at this time.
“The vaccination order is needed for next fall and winter,” he said, adding that easing the restrictions only works with an extended vaccination program.
“This is absolutely necessary when the weather cools down again,” Scholz said of the initiative, which is currently facing obstacles in parliament.
Promised to come into effect in February or March, the mandatory vaccination is backed by the government, but efforts to adopt it have been left to a majority in the legislature.
Photo source: Federal Government (bundesregierung.de)
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