The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) of Virology estimates that there are currently between 1.5 and 2.7 million active cases in the country and the incidence tends to increase, due to a subtype of the micron variant, which is prevalent.
On Friday, the Federal Parliament adopted the decision to lift most restrictions.
The legislative amendment that allowed the lifting of most restrictions, which was imposed several months ago, passed by 388 votes to 277 against, with two abstentions.
The lifting of most restrictions means that the use of masks is no longer mandatory in most places, as of today, but that public transportation is still required.
Home visits still need to test negative for SARS-CoV-2, but this is the only circumstance in which the test will still be needed.
However, federal states in Germany can apply specific and limited restrictions to locations where the infection is most prevalent, a measure that regional governors have criticized as impractical, given the large increase in cases across the country.
Regional countries can extend these measures until April 2, and many have already announced that they intend to do so.
The weekly incidence rate is 1,708.7 per 100,000 population. Today – on weekends the numbers are usually lower, due to delays in data transmission – 131,792 new infections were reported.
However, the new Infection Protection Act eliminates general restrictions and leaves it almost entirely in the hands of federal states to implement measures to deal with specific outbreaks.
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