Two years after the start of the corona pandemic, from Saturday (April 2nd) in Hesse there will only be so-called basic protection.

After the amendment of the Federal Infection Protection Act, neither contact restrictions nor distance requirements or 2-G and 3-G regulations are planned.

Vaccination cards will then no longer be checked.

In addition, a protective mask only has to be worn in certain places.

The new Corona rules initially apply until April 29th.

Monica Ganster

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Masks:

They are still mandatory in medical practices, care facilities or hospitals, with the exception of the patients in the clinics.

In addition, masks are still compulsory on buses and trains - both in local and long-distance transport.

Medical masks must be used, including the thinner surgical masks, but FFP2 masks, which offer better protection against viruses, are recommended.

In other areas such as retail, schools or indoor public spaces, wearing a mouth and nose cover is voluntary.

However, shop owners can exercise their domiciliary rights and only let in customers with a mask.

As a consequence, there will be a juxtaposition of different recommendations and rules in shops, restaurants or at the hairdresser's.

The state government continues to generally recommend wearing masks indoors to avoid contagion.

No test requirement for restaurant visits

Compulsory testing:

In the case of adults, it only applies to a comparatively small group.

Because people in hospitals, retirement and nursing homes and in collective accommodation are particularly at risk from the corona virus, employers, employees and visitors there must continue to be tested regularly.

On the other hand, tests are no longer required for events or when visiting restaurants, and there is no longer a check on vaccination cards.

If there is a suspicion of a corona outbreak in a retirement or nursing home, the responsible health authority can order all residents to be tested.

Penal institutions and detention centers can decide for themselves whether to order compulsory testing.

Test stations:

The numerous private test stations, of which there are almost 1400 in Hesse, can maintain their offer.

The federal government has extended its funding until June 30th.

As before, all citizens are entitled to at least one free rapid test every week.

This option can then be used, for example, before visits to hospitals and nursing homes, before private meetings or if an infection is suspected.

Social Minister Kai Klose (Die Grünen), however, expressed doubts on Hessischer Rundfunk that all test stations would continue to offer services if demand fell.

If the number of unprovoked tests in Hesse falls, the incidence, i.e. the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week, is also likely to fall because asymptomatic infections remain undetected.

The comparison with the incidences of the previous weeks would then lose its meaningfulness.

No mask requirement in schools

Schools:

In the schools in Hesse, students can now completely do without mouth and nose protection.

School staff and unvaccinated students will continue to be tested three times a week, everyone else can also use the test offer, as Social Affairs Minister Klose said when the new rules were presented in Wiesbaden.

The new freedom to wear masks will not apply everywhere - especially indoors - because institutions, restaurateurs and retailers are making use of their domiciliary rights.

Therefore, there will be numerous individual decisions: The city of Frankfurt has already decided that visitors in the city museums and inside the zoo must continue to wear masks.

In Wiesbaden, the mask requirement in offices with high levels of public traffic will be extended until April 18 due to the risk of infection.