Germany’s lockdown-loving health minister has reportedly agreed with authorities a package of COVID extremist restrictions to be forced on the population over the next six months.
Forced masking and the use of COVID passes are back on the table for ordinary Germans after the country’s lockdown-loving health minister, Karl Lauterbach, agreed a host of new COVID-crazy measures with his fellow federal bigwigs.
Rumours had been circulating for a while that the EU state would bring back harsh measures over the winter month, with Lauterbach previously comparing possible restrictions to winter tires required in the country for half of the year.
It appears now that, according to a report by Die Welt, this rhetoric was far from hyperbole, with authorities now confirming a host of new measures that will last almost six months.
Starting from October 1st and lasting until April 7th next year, the new “Infection Protection Act” will involve the reintroduction of forced masking in many areas, draconian lockdown rules that have long since been abandoned in other EU countries.
The new measures will include the continuation of forced masking on air travel and long-distance public transport, as well as the reintroduction of forced masking and COVID testing in hospitals and other care facilities.
What’s more, individual states in the country will also be given the power to reimplement blanket mask mandates for all indoor publicly accessible locations, including bars, restaurants and public transport, as well as certain outdoor venues should they fill the need.
If a state decides to impose such a restriction, federal authorities are demanding that members of the public are allowed present proof of vaccination within the last three months, proof of recovery, or a “current” proof that the individual has tested negative for the disease to get around mask mandates in restaurants, bars, sporting as well as cultural venues.
Local publication Der Spiegel speculates that this demand is an attempt by Lauterbach to boost vaccination numbers in Germany, which has reportedly trailed off significantly according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Lauterbach had, at one point, wanted to make getting vaccinated against COVID-19 mandatory in Germany, but was forced to abandon the scheme after the country’s government shot it down.
States will also be given the power to reintroduce forced masking to schools, as well as implement social distancing requirements in public places.
While on paper the new federal government rules do not necessarily mean individual federal states will reimplement lockdown, devolution of lockdown powers to the local level has had negative outcomes in the past.
For example, when Germany finally decided to loosen its draconian lockdown in March, many of the country’s states decided to ignore the move, instead opting to keep measures involving forced masking and vaccine passport rules in place.
Some individual authorities in the country even decided to tighten measures further, with the city of Hamburg even at one point banning vaccinated people who had not received a booster from restaurants unless they could prove that they have tested negative for the disease.
Another meanwhile implemented a regime of coloured bands that could be worn voluntarily by vaccinated individuals in order to differentiate them from the unjabbed, allowing them to more easily access facilities those without a vaccine were not allowed enter.