Thursday, October 28, 2021
NRW abolishes them
Bavaria plans to wear a mask in class
The corona numbers are increasing rapidly in Bavaria, especially among children and adolescents. Prime Minister Söder holds out the prospect of reintroducing the mask requirement in the classroom. In North Rhine-Westphalia, on the other hand, students will be able to do without face masks from next week. That meets with criticism.
In view of the exploding numbers of corona infections, schoolchildren in Bavaria will probably have to wear masks again in class after the autumn break – i.e. from November 8th. This is to be finally decided in a special session of the cabinet in the coming week, as Prime Minister Markus Söder announced. The duration of the mask requirement should also be discussed next week. In North Rhine-Westphalia, on the other hand, there will be no mask requirement on site from next week – despite the increasing number of infections.
According to Söder, the mask is the quickest and easiest form of protection. Already after the summer holidays, schoolchildren had to wear masks on the square – but this comprehensive obligation ended as planned after a few weeks. Söder emphasized that there would be no general lockdown – it could not even exist because the majority of people have been vaccinated.
The seven-day incidence in Bavaria has been rising sharply again for some time. In the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Söder and his cabinet had avoided new resolutions, but only decided to extend the current Bavarian corona regulation.
For the first time since December 2020, the value for the Free State is currently above 200 again, as figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) show: Specifically, it reports 208.7 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week. Nationwide, the incidence is only higher in Thuringia and Saxony. Especially among children and adolescents, who are largely unvaccinated and who are also tested the most, the numbers are increasing rapidly.
NRW: Vaccination rate among teachers at over 90 percent
The number of cases is also increasing in North Rhine-Westphalia. Nevertheless, pupils will soon no longer have to wear mouth and nose protection in class. The North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Education announced that the requirement to wear masks on the seats in the classroom would be abolished on November 2nd. However, the quarantine rules will be expanded. The reason was that there was no excessive increase in corona infections in schools. At the same time, the vaccination rate is increasing, for teachers it is even over 90 percent.
From Tuesday, pupils only have to wear the mask in the rest of the building and when they leave their permanent seat. The mask requirement for outside areas had been abolished some time ago. There is no mask requirement for teachers as long as a minimum distance of 1.5 meters can be maintained.
The new NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst justified the measures. “Our philosophy has always been and continues to be: as much protection as necessary and as much freedom as possible.” That is why the new quarantine obligation also belongs to the case of the mask requirement at the seat. There was also consensus in the cabinet with Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann.
The Association of Teachers in North Rhine-Westphalia criticized the decision as “extremely risky”. “The number of infections is currently increasing rapidly – especially among children and adolescents. In the midst of this dangerous development, lifting the mask requirement in class exposes everyone involved in school life to a high risk,” said the chairman, Sven Christoffer.