Here’s what you need to know about Germany’s new face mask rules
Stars and Stripes is making stories about the coronavirus pandemic available for free. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription.
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Medical-grade masks will be required across Germany from Monday, but different states have different rules about which ones can be used and military officials have not said whether the new requirements will be applied at American bases.
Masks that can be used while shopping, using public transport, going to the doctor, participating in religious services or in any public place that may be heavily trafficked, are FFP2 or FFP3 masks, KN95 or N95 masks and surgical masks, also known as masks OP.
FFP2 or KN95 / N95 masks have been mandatory in Bavaria since 18 January. Germany’s largest state, which houses the USAG Bavaria and the USAG Ansbach, does not allow surgical masks.
Surgical masks are similar to lower grade masks that do not meet medical grade facial coverage standards. They must have several layers of tissue, a metal support that runs along the nose and say on their packaging that they are type II or III and CE classified, says the Federal Institute of Drugs and Medical Devices of Germany on its website.
Type I surgical masks are not medical grade.
FFP2 or FFP3 masks offer the best protection against coronavirus. They protect the user and people close to larger particles found in the mouth and nose, called droplets, and smaller particles called aerosols, says the institute. KN95 or N95 provide the same protection.
The particles can travel about six feet after being exhaled, which is why it has become the norm of social distance to reduce the risk of infection. Aerosols also travel several meters and remain in the air for longer than drops.
Baden-Wuerttemberg allows surgical masks in most public places, but requires an FFP2 or KN95 / N95 mask in hospitals or nursing homes.
These masks are more expensive than surgical ones, which, according to the medical device institute, protect less against drops and aerosols.
Cloth masks are recommended for personal use only, as the way they filter drops and aerosols depends on how they are made. Plastic face shields do not filter the particles, says the institute.
Failure to wear a mask in Rheinland-Pfalz, home to Ramstein and Spangdahlem air bases and numerous Army facilities, could result in a fine of at least 50 euros, according to documents seen by Stars and Stripes.
It is not clear whether the use of the wrong mask would also result in a fine, or who is authorized to verify that the mask meets the new requirements and impose a fine.
But German authorities have not been timid in the past to punish people for breaking the rules on coronavirus.
In the state of Hessen, which includes USAG Wiesbaden and Frankfurt International Airport, coronavirus fines totaling more than 1 million euros were imposed on more than 11,000 people in 2020, reported the newspaper Giessener Anzeiger.
And in the spring, four American soldiers in Rheinland-Pfalz were fined € 100 each for violating social distance laws – they were traveling together in a car.
Stars and Stripes reporter Karin Zeitvogel contributed to this report.
[email protected]
Twitter: @stripesktown