Against the backdrop of falling corona infection figures, German Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has called for a review of the proportionality of mandatory masking. "Those responsible in the federal states must continuously examine in detail whether and where a mask requirement is still proportionate when the incidence figures are low and continue to fall," Lambrecht told Bild am Sonntag. He added that this also applies to schools, as schoolchildren are "particularly affected by the mask requirement."

The seven-day incidence continued to fall Sunday morning and was 17.3 nationwide (previous day: 18.3; previous week: 24.7), according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Health offices in Germany reported 1489 new Corona infections to the RKI within one day. For comparison: A week ago, the value was 2440 infections. According to the data, 18 new deaths were recorded in Germany within 24 hours. A week ago, there had been 74 deaths.

The nationwide seven-day R-value was according to RKI situation report of Saturday evening at 0.85 (previous day: 0.83). That means that 100 infected persons infect mathematically 85 further humans. The R-value represents in each case the infection occurrence 8 to 16 days ago. If the R-value is below 1 for a longer period of time, the number of infections is decreasing; if it is continuously above 1, the number of cases is increasing.

Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) went further than Lambrecht in light of the numbers and called for a complete end to mandatory masking. "With a clear incidence below 35, the state must not restrict any basic rights at all across the board for all citizens. The general mask obligation would therefore have to be lifted in a strict interpretation of the Infection Protection Act, even more so outside," Kubicki told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The state governments must now quickly change their ordinances, otherwise they will soon be forced by the administrative courts, Kubicki said. The state should rather set up an information campaign explaining how people can protect themselves in subways and crowds with masks, he said. "People's own responsibility must once again become a central part of our coexistence - not the constant prescribing of rules of conduct by the state."

According to the decision of the Conference of Minister Presidents in January, so-called OP masks or FFP2 masks are to be worn on public transport and when shopping. Implementation of the rule is up to the federal states; further regulations may apply regionally.In Denmark, the obligation to wear a mask will be lifted for almost all areas of public life as of this Monday. The only exception will be public transport - but only when you're not sitting down.

Image by Pankaj Yadav