The last version of the Corona Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance was to apply for the period from 1 October 2022 to 7 April 2023. It provides for an extensive test catalog for the risk assessment to be carried out to implement safety measures. In addition, a mandatory mask requirement applies if a minimum distance of 1.5 meters cannot be maintained.

Now the Federal Minister of Labor, Hubertus Heil, has announced that the Corona Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance is to be terminated early. It is to expire by 2 February 2023. This step is justified by the steady decline in the frequency and severity of infections with Covid-19 and the generally favorable forecasts regarding the medium- and long-term course of infections.

Most restrictions have already fallen. In public life, distance requirements and mandatory masks have long been voluntary only. Many federal states have lifted the isolation requirement for persons infected with Covid-19 and some have eliminated the requirement to wear a mask on public transportation. The facility-based vaccination requirement (especially for hospitals, preventive care and rehabilitation facilities, doctors' and dentists' offices, and care facilities for the elderly, disabled, and persons in need of long-term care) was not extended beyond 31 December 2022, and has expired.

The early expiration of the Corona Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance is therefore a consistent step that is to be welcomed.