Angela Merkel has so far hardly appeared with a mask on professional appointments. Now she has explained why she does not use mouth-nose protection.
At the joint press conference between Chancellor Angela Merkel (65) and the French head of state Emmanuel Macron (42) on Monday in the Meseberg castle in Brandenburg, it was not just about politics. The question of why Merkel can hardly be seen in public with mouth-nose protection was also raised.
"If I adhere to the distance rules, I don't need to put on the mask. And if I don't adhere to it and I go shopping, for example, then we won't meet, obviously, otherwise they could have seen me wearing a mask," replied the Chancellor to a journalist's question. "But I won't tell them when I'm going to go shopping," she said with a wink.
But then Merkel got serious again: "Of course, I adhere to the procedures recommended by the Robert Koch Institute and if the distance cannot be maintained – for example when shopping – that is the case. And it will also change Give opportunities where I will surely still be seen with a mask. "
Mask requirement since the end of April
In the press conference of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on March 31, 2020, wearing the masks as a corona protective measure was already recommended. The mask requirement was introduced at the end of April: "From this week onwards, all federal states will have to wear protective masks in local public transport and when shopping", the Federal Government said at the time.