Public order office on control: “3 G? That applies from 10 p.m., doesn't it? "

“Good evening, public order office!” Two employees of the Frankfurt city police stand with their legs apart in the glaring light of a drinking hall.

You ask the host whether 2 G or 3 G applies to him.

"3 G?

That applies from 10 p.m., doesn't it? ”He asks excitedly.

The two explain to him that according to the current legal situation, as a restaurant operator, he can decide for himself whether to apply 2 G or 3 G - i.e. whether only vaccinated and convalescent or also tested people have access.

Anna Schiller

Volunteer.

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And that he had to put up signs so that guests could see which pandemic concept applies to him before they even went in. He could face a fine for missing the information. But with education you can achieve more than with penalties, say the employees of the city police. Of course, they would have to check again later whether the owners implemented their advice.

Your two colleagues have meanwhile inspected the outside area. The owner of the drinking hall has installed a pergola there, the tables are framed by glass walls on all four sides and are covered. This is why the following also applies here: The guests must be vaccinated, recovered or tested. Two men sit at a table in the corner and talk, three other guests drink alone. The four city policemen walk around in their blue uniforms. They leaf through yellow vaccination records, scan QR codes and ask for identity cards.

A woman has no papers with her - they are at home.

The city cops ask if she lives far from here.

She says no.

The four put their heads together, speak quietly and finally decide to accompany the woman home.

Two city police officers bring her to her car and drive off with flashing lights.

The regulatory agencies in many municipalities are reaching their limits during the pandemic.

Just to check the around 2500 restaurants in Frankfurt all once for compliance with the corona measures, the regulatory office would need several weeks.

In the three weeks from October 25th to November 14th, the Frankfurt Public Order Office checked 352 restaurants.

841 people were checked and 51 violations of the corona protective measures were found.

The city police say the workload has to be met.

Every day you are out and about with three teams in Frankfurt's restaurants.

But on some days, especially during the holiday season, they would only manage two restaurants or cafes.

"I can't constantly assign staff for this"

The situation is similar in other large cities.

In Saxony, the regulatory authorities have been monitoring compliance with the new Corona Protection Ordinance since November 8th.

Since then, 330 controls have been carried out in Dresden and 250 in Leipzig, as the FAZ learned on request.

In Stuttgart, the security service has stopped by in 148 restaurants since August, in Erfurt it was 162 from the beginning of October to the beginning of November. In many places there is agreement that the public order offices lack the staff to control restaurants and cafés across the board.

So it is said from a public order office in a large west German city that many employees of the public order offices gave up their vacation days and a lot of overtime was accumulated.

Nevertheless, the authorities could only check compliance with the corona rules on a random basis.

"There are so many control measures relating to infection protection - you cannot constantly assign staff to do this," says a senior employee.

Accompanying a person home for a check-up - his colleagues would not have enough time for that.

The fact that the middle service had been saved for years is now taking revenge.

During the corona controls, his colleagues are dependent on information from the population.

Around half of all reviews were based on this.

Black sheep in the catering industry who try to circumvent the protection regulations annoy Diana Haider-Zakrzewski.

She owns the Old Fashioned bar in Frankfurt's Sachsenhausen nightlife district.

"We received money from the state during Corona, now we should also make a contribution," says the restaurateur.

On Fridays and Saturdays it is open under 2-G conditions, during the week it is 3 G - for the sake of some regular guests who did not want to be vaccinated.

That was also an economic question for her: "It makes a difference whether I can only occupy half the counter on the most important evenings," she says.

In the case of 2-G conditions, the distance requirement has not yet been applied.