France drops the mask in public transport, from Monday May 16. The mask is no longer compulsory on the train, bus, metro or even taxis. Direction Germany and Sweden, two countries that follow different strategies.
In Germany, wearing a mask is still compulsory in transport
Germany, unlike France, still requires wearing a mask in public transport. The Minister of Transport, the Liberal Volker Wissing, wants to abolish this obligation in buses, trains and planes.
However, the Minister of Health, himself an epidemiologist, the Social Democrat Karl Lauterbach, is resolutely opposed to the relaxation of the current obligation. He evokes the 150 daily deaths due to covid to justify his restrictive position. The third government boat, the Green Party, is also opposed to the lifting of the obligation. “We need the mask to ensure a safe summer on buses and trains“, assert the party’s health experts.
>> The obligation to wear a mask in airports and planes will be lifted on Monday May 16 in the European Union
“There is no German covid, but a problem that is the same throughout Europe“, argues the Minister of Transport, in favor of the relaxation of the regulations. The current text is in force until September 23. In German transport, the mask will not fall this summer.
On the other hand, the mask is no longer compulsory in Germany in shops, cinemas or museums, even if certain shopkeepers or museum directors assert their right to impose the wearing of a mask in their establishment. Few do. At any time, the regional authorities can return to the obligation to hide in public places, as soon as the regional authorities note a tension at the level of the hospitals of the region.
In Sweden, no obligation to wear the mask from the start
In Sweden, the situation is quite unprecedented. The country has had a policy almost unique in the world, without confinement, without the obligation to wear a mask since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wherever Swedes are likely to come across other Swedes, the mask has never been compulsory, only recommended. While the WHO began to recommend this type of protection in the spring of 2020, it took until January 2021 for the Swedish public health agency to do the same, at least in transport.
For the Corona commission, which issued a report on the management of the crisis last February, it was a mistake because the precautionary principle was not applied. The fact is that the mask, in Sweden, has always been treated with suspicion by the authorities. Certainly, in the heart of winter and during rush hour in transport, you could see Swedes in masks. Today, the mask has completely disappeared.
Covid-19: Sweden was right not to confine, but should have done more, according to a parliamentary reporthttps://t.co/R68mmOpuGx pic.twitter.com/AhRQ8cNgzP
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) February 25, 2022
Has this Swedish specificity had an impact on mortality? The reality is that Sweden, with 19,000 dead, is within the European average. This mortality in relation to the population is twice that of other Nordic countries such as Finland or Denmark. However, compared to other major European countries, only Germany and Switzerland do slightly better. Sweden has a lower death rate than Italy, Spain, and even France. The country has paid a heavy price, but those who thought Sweden’s laxity would lead to a health disaster have been denied.
Moreover, since April 1, the virus is no longer considered in Sweden as a dangerous disease for society. In Stockholm, in recent days, there were only seven patients left in intensive care. People seem to have completely forgotten about the epidemic, but also about the vaccine: only two out of three adults have received their third dose. This is cause for concern because, as elsewhere in Europe, a rebound is always possible in the fall.