BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s governing coalition is arguing over whether remaining COVID-19 restrictions should be dropped after one of the country’s top virologists was quoted as saying that the pandemic is over.
Germany has scrapped the bulk of restrictions imposed at the height of the pandemic but, unlike other European countries, still requires mask-wearing on long-distance trains and buses. Masks are also mandatory in doctors’ practices, while masks and negative tests are still required to enter hospitals and nursing homes.
Rules for local transport are a matter for Germany’s 16 state governments, and some have dropped mask mandates. Some also have scrapped rules requiring infected people to isolate at home.
Comments by Christian Drosten, a professor of virology at Berlin’s Charite hospital, to the daily Tagesspiegel’s Tuesday edition prompted a renewed argument over whether the remaining rules are justified.