But even beyond these specific areas, Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) recommended that people continue to wear a medical protective mask indoors. "Here it comes down to everyone's personal responsibility, and many citizens have exemplified this in the last four weeks," Laumann said. After a good two years of the pandemic, the vast majority of coronavirus requirements have already been lifted.

Corona infection numbers have fallen, but continue to remain high, said Laumann. There are still many workers who cannot report to work (due to COVID), he said, and people continue to become seriously ill with coronavirus and die from it. In health care facilities, many healthcare workers have been working with a very high workload for months.

Mouth-to-nose protection must continue to be worn in NRW in medical and care facilities such as doctors' offices, hospitals and nursing homes to provide special protection for the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions. The mask requirement also continues to apply in state facilities such as asylum and refugee centers or shared accommodation for the homeless - as well as on buses, trams and trains.

As before, visitors to hospitals and health care facilities may only enter with a current negative COVID test. Employees and those being newly admitted also continue to need a current negative test.

The testing regulations for hospitals will be standardized with the new version of the Corona Protection Ordinance. Psychiatric clinics and detoxification centers are also subject to the regulations for hospitals. In asylum and refugee accommodations, correctional facilities or deportation centers, testing can be waived as before for fully immunized people.

Orig. text: dpa

Translation: ck