When shopping and on the bus & train, you must cover your mouth and nose with a so-called “medical mask” - at term which includes surgical masks and FFP2 masks. Cloth masks or scarves are no longer allowed for shops and public transportation. You also need to wear a mask in front of the shops and in parking spaces. If you do not wear a mask, you will have to pay a fine of at least 50 euros. Saxony-Anhalt is an exception: there is no fines apply there. Some cities also require you to wear a mask in certain public spaces and streets. At work, you must either maintain a distance of 1.5 meters between people or wear a medical mask.
Strict contact restrictions continue to apply. In private, you are only allowed to meet people from your household and one other person (from another household). In most federal states, there is no exception for children - this means, for instance, that your family can invite the neighbour's child (for a play date), but not the child’s mother as the child counts as “one person”.
In regions with an incidence rate of over 200 new infections per 100,000 population, there will be further restrictions, including restricting the range of motion to 15 km from your place of residence. In other words, you are only allowed to move within a radius of 15 km from your city or municipality if there are many new infections in your region. Visits to the doctor or commuting to work are still permitted as the regulation is primarily intended to prevent day trips.
In other regions, private travel and day trips are not prohibited. However, the government urges citizens to abstain from unnecessary travel. Overnight stays in hotels or holiday resorts are currently not allowed for tourists.
You must keep a distance of at least 1.50 meters from people who do not live in the same household as you.
Church services are allowed- however, the participants must wear a medical mask and keep a minimum distance of 1.50 meters. Singing together is not allowed. Church services with more than 10 participants must be registered with the office for public order (Ordnungsamt).
Visiting retirement homes and assisted living facilities is possible. Visitors need to get a coronavirus test prior to the visit. In general, it is possible to get tested directly before visiting a retirement home or assisted living facility.
There may be some additional stricter rules in your federal state or region- for instance, there may be a (nightly) curfew. This means everyone must remain indoors, preferably at home, between specified hours. Leaving your place of residence is only permitted for urgent reasons, such as grocery shopping, work, doctor visits, etc.
To learn more about the current corona rules in your state /your city, check corona-was-darf-ich.de- the information is available in many languages.
Important: The police is tasked to enforce compliance with corona rules. Those who break these rules face a penalty which can range from a fine to a prison sentence.
These regulations are currently valid until at leas February 14, 2021.