German doctors welcome end to mask mandate in public transport

The German intensive care physician and government advisor Christian Karagiannidis has welcomed the looming end of compulsory masks on the country's public transport, adding his voice to a chorus of support for the policy move among medical groups.
"I support the end of compulsory mask-wearing in long-distance traffic because I still consider the coronavirus-specific immunity of the population to be robust," Karagiannidis told the Rheinische Post.
On Friday, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced that Germany will drop its mask requirement for passengers on long-distance trains on February 2.
A number of German states have already moved to drop mask requirements aboard regional trains and in local public transit.
However, Karagiannidis, who is also a member of Germany's Covid-19 expert council, called for the mask requirement in hospitals to be maintained until the end of February.
German medical professionals also welcomed the imminent end of mandatory masks for long-distance travel.
"The infection figures are manageable because many people in Germany have been sufficiently vaccinated and/or have recovered," Johannes Nießen, chairman of the Federal Association of Physicians in the Public Health Service, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.
It, therefore, makes sense to now leave the wearing of masks on trains to the responsibility of the individual, Nießen explained.
Top German Hospital Federation (DKG) representatives and the German general practitioners' association had already welcomed the federal government's decision to lift the mask requirement.