Brandenburg's interior minister and CDU state leader Michael Stübgen currently sees no need to expand the mask requirement to protect against corona. "We have to act when we run the risk that people can no longer be properly cared for, the Covid patients, but also other sick people - but not before," Stübgen told the German Press Agency in Potsdam. He opposed the proposal by Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens) to prepare further protective measures because the burden on hospitals was increasing. The cabinet is expected to discuss new corona rules on October 25th.

"We have agreed in the cabinet, also within the coalition, that we will act with stricter measures for the population, including mandatory measures - mask requirement et cetera - if our health system (...) is overburdened," said Stübgen. These included the number of new Covid-19 patients in hospitals per 100,000 inhabitants in a week and the bed capacity in intensive care units. "I have no data that this is the case now." That's why he doesn't think "tightening measures make sense at the moment," said Stübgen. "That can all change in the short term."

Health Minister Nonnemacher believes that it makes sense to wear masks in indoor public spaces. FFP2 masks must currently be worn on buses and trains. The Green politician is concerned because the burden in the hospitals is increasing noticeably and there are significant staff shortages in the medical field due to illness.

Berlin's health senator Ulrike Gote (Greens) had previously advocated a mask requirement indoors - initially in shops or public buildings such as museums and universities. The governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) reacted cautiously.