The nationwide seven-day incidence of new corona infections continues to decline.
As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Monday morning, the value is now 1424.6.
The previous day it was 1457.9, a week ago it was 1700.6.
The value quantifies the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days.
As the RKI further reported, citing data from the health authorities, the absolute number of new infections reported within 24 hours on Monday was 41,129 – after 74,053 the day before and 67,501 new infections a week ago.
The total number of registered cases of infection in Germany since the beginning of the corona pandemic has increased to 21,668,677.
23 more deaths
According to the RKI, 23 further deaths related to the corona virus were registered within 24 hours.
The total number of corona deaths recorded in Germany rose to 130,052.
Anyone who goes shopping no longer has to wear a mask in large parts of Germany.
Supermarkets, discounters and other shops will open their doors on Monday and, for the first time in about two years, will be allowed to let in customers who do not wear mouth and nose covers.
The federal and state governments had relaxed their corona measures accordingly.
On Friday, the mask requirement had already fallen in Berlin, on Sunday then in most other federal states – there it was already possible to shop in shops that were open on Sundays without a mask, for example at train stations.
Now the mask requirement is falling on a grand scale.
Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are sticking to the obligation to wear them as part of a so-called hotspot regulation.
Other federal states refrained from taking such a special path.
Since the end of April 2020, wearing a mask in shops had been mandatory nationwide.
In retail, the ending creates mixed feelings.
The Verdi union reported concern among employees about the risk of infection.
There are also many critical voices among employers.
In a survey of retailers by the Bavarian Retail Association, a narrow majority said they thought the end of the mask requirement was wrong.
According to the survey, 11.7 percent of retailers in Bavaria want to stick to the mask requirement in their shops, while 77.4 percent do not want to prescribe masks through domiciliary rights.
However, the large retail chains are not among them - they are not required to wear them, for example at Rewe, Lidl, Aldi and Edeka in the food sector, at the furniture retailer Ikea, at the bookstore chain Thalia or the textile chains H&M and Primark.
Sometimes, however, customers are advised to continue to wear a mask voluntarily.