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Saarbrücken (dpa / lrs) - From Monday, a stricter mask requirement will apply in Saarland: Medical masks must then be worn in buses and trains, shops, markets, hospitals and at the doctor, the Saarland State Chancellery announced on Thursday.

This includes surgical masks and masks of the FFP2, KN95 or N95 standards.

Cloth masks and scarves are taboo in church services too.

This rule is part of a new Corona regulation that the Council of Ministers in Saarland decided on Thursday.

This means that the federal-state resolutions from Tuesday to extend the lockdown to February 14th will be implemented.

"The current lockdown is an enormous burden for us all," said Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) on Thursday.

"We find life with Corona increasingly difficult."

In view of the new variants of Corona, the number of new infections must be reduced “much more sharply than has been the case so far”.

This is only possible with an extended lockdown and some re-sharpening.

Home office should be used where possible.

With the exception of final classes, the compulsory attendance at schools will remain suspended until February 14th.

Care in daycare centers and for pupils up to grade 6 is guaranteed.

Hans appealed to the Saarlanders: "Work from home whenever possible, don't bring your children to school or daycare and continue to reduce personal contacts."

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Saarland's Minister of Economic Affairs, Anke Rehlinger (SPD), also said that “every effort” had to be made to avoid contacts.

"Wherever possible, home office must be used - also to better protect those who do not have the opportunity to work from home," she said.

"The previous measures are currently leading to a slightly positive trend, but not to the all-clear."

In the new regulation, the Saarland state government has also made it clear that the contact restrictions also apply to family members.

In doing so, she reacted to a decision by the Saarland Higher Administrative Court (OVG) on Wednesday, which had provisionally suspended the contact restrictions in the family circle due to a contradiction in the previous regulation (Ref .: 2 B 7/21).

The new Corona regulation now states: "Private gatherings in public spaces, in privately used rooms and on privately used properties are limited to one household and one person who does not live in this household."

There could be exceptions in the care of minors or people in need of care.

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The OVG in Saarlouis had asked the state government for clarification because of two contradicting provisions in the previous regulation.

A regulation of the regulation provides that private meetings are limited to one household and one person not living in this household.

Another regulation, on the other hand, mentions the family reference circle as an exception to the ban on contact.

As usual in Saarland, the new Corona regulation will initially apply for two weeks, i.e. until February 7th.

Then it will be checked, "even if an extension" is likely due to the infection, according to the statement from the State Chancellery.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210121-99-119546 / 2