Here’s what you need to know about the new face mask rules in Germany
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KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – As of Monday, medical-grade masks are required all over Germany, but different states have different rules about which ones can be worn, and military officials have not said whether the new requirements will apply to US bases.
Masks that can be worn while shopping, using public transportation, going to the doctor, attending religious services or in a public location likely to be heavily trafficked include FFP2 or FFP3 masks, KN95 or N95 masks, and surgical masks. known as OP masks.
FFP2 or KN95 / N95 masks are mandatory in Bavaria since January 18. Germany’s largest state, where USAG Bavaria and USAG Ansbach live, does not allow surgical masks.
Surgical masks resemble lower quality masks that do not meet the standards for medical grade face coverings. They must have multiple layers of fabric, a metal backing that goes over the nose, and say on their packaging that they are type II or III and CE certified, the German Federal Institute of Medicines and Medical Devices says on its website.
Type I surgical masks are not medical grade.
FFP2 or FFP3 masks are said to provide the best protection against the coronavirus. They protect the wearer and those around them from larger particles in the mouth and nose called droplets, and from smaller particles called aerosols, the institute says. KN95 or N95 offer the same protection.
Particles can travel about six feet after they are exhaled, which is why that has become the norm for social distances to reduce the risk of infection. Aerosols also travel several meters and stay in the air longer than droplets.
Baden-Wuerttemberg allows surgical masks in most public places, but requires an FFP2 or KN95 / N95 mask in hospitals or care homes.
Those masks are more expensive than surgical masks, which, according to the Medical Devices Institute, provide less protection against droplets and aerosols.
Fabric masks are recommended for personal use only as how well they filter droplets and aerosols depends on how they are made. Plastic face shields do not filter out particles, the institute says.
Failure to wear a mask in Rhineland-Palatinate, home to the Ramstein and Spangdahlem air bases and numerous army installations, can result in a fine of at least 50 euros, according to documents seen by Stars and Stripes.
It is unclear whether wearing the wrong mask would also lead to a fine, or who is authorized to check whether a mask meets the new requirements and to impose a fine.
But German officials have not been shy about punishing people for breaking coronavirus rules in the past.
In the state of Hesse, which includes USAG Wiesbaden and Frankfurt International Airport, coronavirus fines totaling more than € 1 million were imposed on more than 11,000 people in 2020, Giessener Anzeiger reported.
And in the spring, four American soldiers in Rhineland-Palatinate were fined $ 100 each for breaking social distance laws – they drove a car together.
Stars and Stripes reporter Karin Zeitvogel contributed to this report.
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