Germany weighing return to COMPULSORY mask-wearing to tackle ‘winter Covid wave’ as cases rise in Europe
GERMANY is reportedly weighing up a return to compulsory mask-wearing amid fears of a new wave of Covid.
Berlin wants to enforce the lockdown-era regulation from October to March as cases surge in Europe.
The proposals would mean mask-wearing in all public spaces - including bars, restaurants and shops - during the winter months to slow the spread of Covid.
The scheme has been dubbed a "O-bis-O" (Oktober bis Ostern), according to German newspaper .
It's not clear of the rules would apply to school and kindergartens.
Covid is known to spread more easily in the winter months as people spend more time indoors.
MORE ON COVID
Health chiefs in Germany are concerned cases may yet surge again. There are currently between 50 and 130 Covid deaths a day in the country.
Currently, masking-up is mandatory on public transport and medical settings.
But if the new plan is given the green-light, it'll hit Oktoberfest.
The beer festival, which attracts six million attendees, was cancelled by German authorities last year.
Most read in The Sun
Revellers are expected to be up in arms if this year's festival is plagued by compulsory mask wearing rules.
"O-bis-O" usually refers to motoring laws which require drivers to put winter tyres on their cars during the colder months.
Berlin is likely to wait on the findings of a scientific commission before putting the rules into the next version of the Infection Protection Act, which is set to expire in September.
The commission has until the end of this month to tell the government which restrictions have been most effective in tackling Covid infections.
German health minister Karl Lauterbach presented a seven-point plan for the autumn on Friday. However, he did not comment on reports of a return to compulsory mask-wearing.
PLAN UNMASKED
Instead, he urged Germans to wear face masks indoors to protect themselves, and admitted current data sets don't justify making covering-up a legal requirement.
Lauterbach, an epidemiologist by training, said Germany was in the middle of a "summer wave" of infections.
"I ask those who want to protect themselves or others to wear masks indoors," Lauterbach, a member of the Social Democrats, told reporters in Berlin.
"Voluntarily wearing masks needs to be a normality indoors."
The dominant variant circulating in Germany is comparatively mild, and many residents are vaccinated, meaning they are less at risk of serious illness,.
GOT YOU COVERED
It comes as Covid cases in England surged by 43 percent last week - the biggest jump in six months.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate 1.4million Brits had the bug last week – around one in 50 people.
The increase is being driven by new variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are offshoots of the dominant Omicron strain, BA.2.
They are thought to be more infectious than the original version and now account for around half of UK cases.
Cases are also rising in Wales and Northern Ireland, where one in 45 had the virus last week, and in Scotland, where one in 30 were sick.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
The weekly stats are a barometer for measuring outbreaks since free testing was axed and the daily dashboard was scaled down.
Scientists believe the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration helped fuel the uptick in cases.
