Berlin Makes Covid Testing Mandatory

BERLIN makes Covid testing mandatory for all customer contact staff.

As of Wednesday, March 31, all staff working in roles that require direct contact with customers will be obliged to have a Covid test twice a week, the city of Berlin has announced. According to paragraph 6a of the capital city’s new Infection Protection Measures Ordinance, which was agreed in the Senate last Tuesday, people working in supermarkets or as delivery drivers, for example, will have to take two antigen tests and retain the results for four weeks. Self-employed people who come into direct contact with customers will have to take the test once a week.

Employees will have the Covid tests paid for by their employer, while those who own their own businesses can take advantage of one of the free testing sites dotted around the city.

As well as the new testing regulations, from Wednesday people will need to wear an FFP2 face mask when entering supermarkets and shops, and the larger stores have been asked to introduce rapid antigen testing facilities.

The extra measures come as the Robert Koch Institute has warned of a difficult time ahead for Germany and suggested that this third wave could be the worst one yet.

Mayor of Berlin Michael Müller has advised that the new restrictions are an effort to avoid a tougher lockdown.

“I believe that it is not a viable path to now turn back everything that we have fought for in terms of opportunities and freedoms in recent days and weeks,” Mr Müller said on Thursday, March 25.

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