A new set of anti-Covid-19 measures for this fall and winter in Germany came into force on Saturday as the country braces for an increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the colder months, dpa reports.

What are the new anti-covid regulations in Germany:

• FFP2 type masks are mandatory on long-distance trains for people over 14 years of age, whereas previously surgical masks were sufficient.
• However, since the summer of this year, as in other EU countries, the obligation to wear a mask while traveling by plane has been abolished.
• FFP2 masks are now mandatory in hospitals, nursing homes and doctors’ offices.
• A negative COVID test is required for access to nursing homes and hospitals. Employees of these institutions must be tested several times a week.
• From Saturday, local authorities will be able to make it compulsory to wear masks on local trains and buses, as well as in premises such as shops, restaurants and event halls.
• In schools and kindergartens, COVID-tests can become mandatory, while masks can also be made mandatory, but only from the fifth grade (from 11 years old), if it is necessary to maintain classes with physical presence.
• In the event of an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19, states may introduce additional measures.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Friday that Germany was already facing the start of a new autumn wave of COVID-19 and called for measures to avoid a “further stressful situation”.

“We are clearly at the beginning of an autumn-winter wave, not only in Germany, but also at the international level,” said the German minister at a press conference devoted to the analysis of the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. He clarified that Omicron BA.5 is currently the problem variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus almost all over the world. (Source: Agerpres / Photo: Dreamstime)