The Corona Protection Ordinance of the State of Hesse, which regulates, among other things, the situations in which citizens still have to wear a mask, expires on Monday.

Subject to the pending cabinet decision, it will probably be extended without changes, according to the Hessian State Chancellery.

At its core, the ordinance relies on citizens taking responsibility for their own actions.

It states that every person is required “to behave in such a way that they do not expose themselves or others to any unreasonable risk of infection”.

Marie Lisa Kehler

Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

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The general recommendations on hygiene and wearing a medical mask should be considered “on your own responsibility and adapted to the situation”.

The Infection Protection Act is less about personal responsibility and more about the right of the federal states to intervene quickly and locally if there is a risk of the health system being overloaded in the fall.

The previous version will expire at the end of September.

A "patchwork"

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) presented proposals for possible adjustments at the beginning of the week and discussed them with the health ministers of the federal states or their representatives.

“We welcome the fact that there is a general package of measures.

The planned powers are a step in the right direction," says the Hessian State Chancellery.

In the event of a tense corona situation, the Infection Protection Act should regulate, among other things, the return of the obligation to wear a mask indoors, for example when visiting restaurants.

An exception is planned for newly vaccinated or recovered people.

This is exactly what the Hessian state government criticizes.

There was a failure to standardize the regulations on the obligation to wear masks and to make them more understandable and simpler.

At this point, the draft presented urgently needs to be revised.

"It can be assumed that the controls for operators and organizers associated with the planned exceptions cannot be implemented in practice," says the State Chancellery.

So far, there has also been a failure to define the threshold from which the orders may be issued.

The planned regulation will again lead to a considerable need for coordination between the federal states.

A renewed "patchwork" is to be feared.

"Even if different regional concerns require different measures, the standards and thresholds for this should be uniform," the State Chancellery said.