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Schools and kindergartens remain open, a maximum of five people must meet, the requirement for masks will be expanded. The federal and state governments have accepted these rules.
How long will the partial lockdown continue?
The current measures will run until December 20 and, at times, will be toughened. Restaurants, theaters and leisure facilities will be closed. The partial block could then be extended again if the number of cases does not decrease significantly. “Unfortunately, that is not predictable,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
How many people can you meet?
All citizens are asked to avoid any unnecessary contact and to stay home if possible. Private meetings with friends, family and acquaintances are more strictly limited. In the future, only one household should join another household, with a total of maximum of five people. Children up to 14 years old are excluded. Previously, there was an upper limit of ten people.
The restrictions will be relaxed during Christmas. As of December 23, meetings “in the family or closest friends” should be possible, until a maximum of ten people all in all. Children up to 14 years old are excluded.
Where does the mask requirement apply?
The mask requirement applies in stores, on public transport and in all places open to the public in city centers. A mask should also be worn in places where people are in confined spaces or for a long period of time, even outdoors. The authorities determine these places. In principle, a mask is also required in workplaces, unless a distance of one and a half meters to others can be maintained from the workplace.
For which regions are there stricter measures?
In addition, action will be taken if there are 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. Additional restrictions should now apply to areas with a particularly high number of corona infections. This applies to the so-called incidence of more than 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. This point was debated particularly intensively, details have not yet been given.
What measures are applied on the railroad?
More space on trains, but fewer seats that can be reserved – this is what the federal and state government has decided on additional measures in the crown crisis. The “seating capacity” of the trains will be significantly increased to allow even more distance between passengers. It is conceivable to use more trains. At the same time, seat reservations will be restricted. The details should now determine the route. In a previous draft, specific details were mentioned, such as that as of now only window seats can be reserved. Now one thing is certain: there is no reservation requirement that has been requested multiple times.
And the Christmas holidays?
The Christmas holidays should start almost everywhere on December 19 at the same time this year. Even before the meeting, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Saxony and Baden-Württemberg had announced that they would advance their holidays until 19 December. In most other federal states, this date was established as the start of the holidays long before Corona. December 19 is the Saturday before Christmas Eve, which this year falls on Thursday. With the exception of Bremen and Thuringia, the holidays should start everywhere on this day. According to the decision taken on Wednesday, the two countries reserve the right to “make a specific regulation of each country regarding the beginning of the holidays.” The measure aims to reduce the number of contacts directly before the holidays and, therefore, the risk of contagion in the family. However, parents in the federal states who prefer their vacations now have to take care of the children during the extra days out of school before Christmas Eve. But emergency care is up for discussion.
And the schools?
No large-scale alternate lessons are planned. The decision to alternate lessons in divided groups at home and at school has yet to be made locally. In the case of an infection with an incidence of more than 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week, “new measures for the design of” school-specific “classrooms” should be implemented, according to the resolution. The so-called hybrid lessons are also not mentioned as mandatory, but only as an example of any additional measures. Additionally, such measures should remain limited to eighth grade students, with the exception of final grades. It was also agreed that a mask is required in class starting in the seventh grade, also depending on the regional Corona numbers. As a fuzzy border, “significantly more” than 50 new infections per 100,000 people are mentioned here in the document. However, in most federal states it has long been mandatory to wear a mask in class from the fifth grade, and in Bavaria even in primary schools. More recently, there was no nationwide mask requirement in class only in Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
What are the quarantine rules for students?
There should be uniform rules for students who have hired Corona and their classmates. Students who tested positive should be immediately sent to a five-day quarantine along with their classmates, usually the school class. Weekend days count. As stated in the federal and state resolution document, affected students must take a rapid test after five days of quarantine. Anyone who is negative can go back to school. Those who are positive should be retested every three days until the test is negative. According to the decision, teachers should not be included in this “group isolation” due to “temporary and differently structured contact”. It remains to be seen if there are enough rapid tests for such a procedure.
What is changing for retail?
Wholesalers and retailers remain open, but masks are now also required in front of retail stores and in parking lots. The number of people in the shops should be reduced. In small and medium stores with a sales area of up to 800 square meters, there can be no more than one person for every ten square meters of sales area. In larger stores with a sales area of 801 square meters or more, such as department stores, the following is planned: up to an area of 800 square meters, there should be no more than one person per ten square meters; In the area that exceeds 800 square meters, no more than one person for every 20 square meters.
What about New Years Eve, are there fireworks?
Citizens are advised to avoid New Year’s Eve fireworks at the turn of the year. The use of pyrotechnics should even be prohibited in crowded squares and streets. Therefore, larger groups should not be formed. The authorities must determine the places and streets affected. Publicly organized fireworks should be banned. In the run-up to the deliberations, the Union-led federal states, unlike the SPD states, had spoken out against the ban on the sale of New Year’s Eve bollards.
