Federal Minister of Health Prof. Karl Lauterbach explains:
“Germany got through the pandemic well. We have a relatively old population, the vaccination rate is relatively low. And yet we have fewer deaths than many other countries. We owe this not least to a consistent Corona policy. One of the most consistent in Europe.
With our 7-point plan, we were well prepared for the fall. The virus has become more contagious, but not more aggressive. And vaccination and contagion have boosted immunity in the population.
The bottom line is that the infection situation has been stable for weeks. The 7-day incidence stagnates. The hospitals can take good care of the corona patients.
And I am particularly pleased that the proportion of Covid deaths in nursing homes has recently fallen sharply. In previous years, we still had to mourn around 15 percent of all Covid deaths in the homes. At the end of last year it was only 3.4 percent.
This indicates that our measures have worked. The officers we put in place for vaccination, testing, and medication. And of course the consistent test and mask requirement. The success of this consistent policy gives us leeway to relax the corona measures earlier than planned.
That is why we have agreed with the health ministers of the federal states to let almost all test and mask requirements expire on March 1st.
Only when visiting medical facilities should we continue to be careful. That’s why we will maintain the mask requirement here for a few more weeks.
Anyone who visits patients or residents, who makes doctor’s appointments, must continue to wear a mask. The protection of vulnerable groups should be worth it to us.
The pandemic is not over yet. But the pandemic has lost its terror. The virus is manageable in everyday life. And we draw conclusions from that.”