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According to information from Tagesspiegel from government circles, the Berlin Senate will be the last federal state to vote for a mask requirement in retail on Tuesday. Health Senator Dilek Kalayci (SPD) has defended her call for expansion.
This is the result of deliberations in the Senate and discussions with experts, said Kalayci, who had accused the Green Co-rulers of “rushing.” Several doctors have also spoken in favor of accompanying relaxation in the capital with a stricter protective mask requirement.
[In unseren Leute-Newslettern berichten wir wöchentlich aus den zwölf Berliner Bezirken, unter anderem über die aktuellen Entwicklungen in der Coronavirus-Pandemie. Die Newsletter können Sie hier kostenlos bestellen: leute.tagesspiegel.de]
Infection experts fear that relaxation will occur too soon anyway. In view of the “fight for many more months” against the crown pandemic, the district offices were technically realigned, Senator Kalayci said Monday. For example, Mitte’s health department is the first to rely on new software that makes it easier to understand foci of infection.
Last week, the SPD spoke in favor of masks in retail.
Last week, the Berlin SPD voted at a state executive board meeting “to wear a mouth and nose cap also in stores.” SPD State President Iris Spranger told Tagesspiegel that she would appreciate a corresponding Senate decision “to protect her own health and her closest counterpart.”
Even if there are reservations among the Greens as coalition partners to extend the mask requirement, the Mayor and Senator for Economic Affairs, Ramona Pop, told Tagesspiegel: “We trust the insight, solidarity and reason of the people. However, if oversight increases, we reserve the right to take further action. We will be briefed on this in the Senate. ”
The agenda continued “significantly restricting physical contacts and maintaining distance.” Brainstorm in the Senate and take a close look “at what the situation looks like after the first relaxation.”
The left depends on voluntariness.
The Berlin left continues to depend on voluntariness. “As long as the protective equipment for medical and nursing personnel is scarce, I consider that a duty is wrong,” said party leader Katina Schubert.
However, the left, like the other two coalition partners, is not interested in a coalition clash at this point and would also support a mask requirement for retailers. The mayor and senator for culture, Klaus Lederer, wrote in a guest article in the Tagesspiegel that “the political profile of parties counts much less these days.”
[Spät dran? Hier gibt es Tipps, wie sie jetzt noch an Masken kommen – und hier zeigen wir mit Schnittmuster, wie’s sie selbst eine nähen können.]
After Berlin announced the obligation to wear a mask on public transport, Brandenburg did the same with a regulation stipulating the use of masks on buses, trains and shops.
Most support this introduction of a mouth protection obligation on Berlin public transport. According to a Civey survey for the Tagesspiegel, 45.9 percent rate the measure as “very positive” and another 18.1 percent as “positive.” 8.2 percent of the respondents were undecided, 8.2 percent “quite negative” and 19.6 “very negative”.
Currently, Berlin is the only federal state with no mask requirements in retail. However, Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) had repeatedly emphasized that Berlin was coordinating closely with Brandenburg and was striving to take action at the national level. That’s why the Senate is said to want to pass a business mask requirement this Tuesday.
In addition to the decision at the regional board, the urban development, environment and transport working groups in the SPD parliamentary group had also spoken in favor of an expansion of the mask requirement. The Greens had previously rejected this and are now criticized by the coalition partner SPD. There is little understanding of the “stubbornness of the Greens,” he said from SPD circles.
Green: fabric is not a substitute for staying clear
However, the reservations among the Greens do not seem to be set in stone. “We are not ignoring the mask requirement in retail when we find that most people do not adhere to the recommendation to wear a mouth and nose cap. However, we caution against the use of a mask or cloth as a substitute for staying away, “leader of parliamentary group Silke Gebel told Tagesspiegel.
Children under the age of six should be exempt from the obligation, Gebel said. The executive director of the Berlin-Brandenburg trade association, Nils Busch-Petersen, said retailers are preparing to wear a mask. It is the “customer’s duty” to wear mouth-nose protection. “We cannot play a replacement police force,” said Busch-Petersen.
[Über die Entwicklungen der Coronakrise in Berlin halten wir Sie in unserem Live-Blog auf dem Laufenden]
At least on public transportation, most people joined the new regulation on Monday. According to Tagesspiegel reporters, almost all passengers were covered, especially on buses. The image on the subway was similar at least in the morning in rush hour traffic.
The BVG even estimated that “more than 95 percent of customers” adhered to the goal. “We are delighted,” said a spokeswoman. On the S-Bahn, on the other hand, especially younger people did not comply with the obligation to wear a mask; the Tagesspiegel received reports from various readers that fewer people had worn masks, especially in the less crowded suburbs. The obligation is not yet verified in Berlin.
