In Bavaria, there are very few Corona regulations left - and even those have been relaxed yet another time: Since Saturday, May 28, you no longer have to wear an FFP2 mask in health care facilities and homes; an OP mask is now sufficient here.Otherwise, there is still a testing obligation in these facilities, plus a mask obligation in public transport. All other Corona rules, including mandatory testing in schools and daycare centers, have been abolished. Bavaria thus limits them to the so-called basic protection. An overview of the currently valid Corona regulations in Bavaria:

The new mask obligation

The obligation to wear a mask now only applies in a few areas: on the one hand in local public transport, i.e. in buses, trains and cabs (but not at train stations) - here in Bavaria it must be an FFP2 mask. As well as in long-distance trains and airplanes - here a medical mask (OP mask) is also sufficient.

On the other hand, a surgical mask must be worn in many health care facilities and homes. These include doctors' offices, hospitals and day clinics, preventive care, dialysis and rehabilitation facilities, rescue and outpatient care services, full and partial inpatient care facilities, as well as facilities for people with disabilities, shelters for the homeless and refugees.

For children and adolescents between the ages of six and 16, a medical mask (surgical mask) is always sufficient. Children up to their sixth birthday, the deaf or hard of hearing, and people for whom this is not possible for medical reasons, which must be documented by a certificate, are generally exempt from the mask requirement.

Where testing is required

Since April 3, testing has only been mandatory in hospitals, prisons, nursing homes and homes for the elderly. Here, visitors and employees need a current, negative Corona rapid test; for employees, two tests per week are sufficient if they have been vaccinated or have recovered. This testing requirement does not apply to children up to their sixth birthday or to children who have not yet started school.

Proof of testing must be submitted in writing (printed or on a cell phone). A PCR test may not be older than 48 hours, a rapid test not older than 24 hours. A self-test is only sufficient if it was done under supervision, which is confirmed in writing (maximum 24 hours old).

The state government recommends protecting yourself by, for example, keeping your distance from other people or generally wearing a mask indoors. It advises recreational facilities or stores to adopt hygiene concepts (for example, disinfection). However, all this is no longer mandatory. The German Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach (SPD), has also appealed to supermarkets and stores to make masks compulsory themselves - they are free to do so as part of their householder's rights. However, only a few have done so.

No contact and access restrictions

At the heart of the Corona regulations in recent months have been stipulations on the maximum number of people one is allowed to meet, as well as access restrictions to stores, restaurants, leisure facilities and much more (2 G or 3 G). All of these restrictions expired on April 2, without exception - as did any caps on the number of visitors or partial bans on alcohol sales. General closures (of clubs and discos, for example) are also no longer possible.

What applies in the workplace

Until March 20, a 3-G rule applied in many workplaces. This meant that only those who had been vaccinated against Corona, had recovered from it or had tested negative for the pathogen were allowed to work there. This was abolished in mid-March, as was the obligation to allow employees to work from home and to offer free Corona tests. Now, companies must define their own hygiene concepts in the workplace, but there are no specific requirements.

The rules at schools and daycare centers

Although there are some hygiene rules at schools, in general school attendance is possible again without restrictions. The obligation to be tested regularly for the coronavirus was abolished on April 30, and masks are no longer mandatory.Daycare centers, i.e. crèches, kindergartens and after-school care centers, are also operating normally; here, too, the obligation to be tested was cancelled at the end of April. What also no longer exists is the closure of entire groups if more than one-fifth of the children test positive.

And what about hotspot tightening?

Those don't exist yet. In certain areas, the state government could enact stricter rules if it wanted to and if the state parliament agreed. That could be individual cities and counties or the entire state; hygiene regulations, distance rules, a mask requirement in additional areas or access restrictions such as a 2-G or a 3-G rule would then be possible there. According to the law, the prerequisite for this would be either that a new, more dangerous virus variant is circulating or that, due to many new infections, "there is a threat of overloading hospital capacities in the respective regional authority." The government argues that this is currently out of the question in Bavaria.

Rules on entry

In Bavaria, the same regulations now apply to entry as nationwide. Accordingly, anyone entering from a so-called high-risk or virus-variant area must register and, under certain circumstances, go into quarantine.

Image by Frauke Riether