As Germany fights its fourth wave of coronavirus infections, from Wednesday, November 24, passengers in public transport will be required to have one of the three Covid-19 certificates or step outside, German news portal TheLocal.de reports.
The rule in the federal Infection Protection Law came into force on Wednesday. This means that national and suburban trains, buses and trams as well as buses and trains operated by private providers will be affected and proof of full vaccination, having recovered from the disease or a recent coronavirus test will be required.
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Exempt from the rule will only be taxis and school buses, as well as children under the age of six and schoolchildren who are tested at school.
Given the number of Germans commuting regularly on local transport, area-wide checks are simply not feasible and the certificates may be checked just as sporadically as tickets. Transport companies such as Deutsche Bahn and FlixBus will now have to decide whether to burden inspectors with this additional task, or simply to carry out focussed checks together with the authorities. The latter measure has been used to enforce the mask-wearing requirement, TheLocal.de reports.
Germany to require Covid-19 certificates in public transport
