The federal government announced that it would soon want to produce FFP2 masks for children in the fight against the corona virus. Much too late, say the Greens.
Berlin – Despite the declining number of new infections with the corona virus, caution is still required – especially with children, most of whom have not yet had a corona vaccination. The federal government sees an increased need for protection among younger people – and is apparently planning to offer FFP2 masks in child size.
As the German Press Agency (dpa) reports, the federal government sees “in view of the ongoing pandemic there is a need for suitable children’s masks for the purpose of infection protection”. To this end, the government has initiated the standardization of the infection protection mask at the German Institute for Standardization.
Federal government plans FFP2 masks for children: “Irresponsible that you did not take action earlier”
In a letter from the Greens parliamentary group to the federal government, which the dpa has received, the consumer policy spokeswoman Tabea Rößner calls it a “poor testimony that after 16 months of the corona pandemic there are still no specific FFP2 masks for children available on the market”. The federal government failed to provide targeted protection for children, said the Green politician.
Many students in Germany and in the southwest no longer need a mask since Monday (BW24 * reported). However, because the FFP2 mask requirement continues to exist in buses and trains, the Greens advocate more child-friendly masks. “It is irresponsible that the federal government did not act earlier in view of the pandemic situation that has persisted for so long,” says Tabea Rößner.
Lack of FFP2 masks for children isn’t the only problem
In his defense, the Federal Ministry of Labor said that when testing FFP2 masks according to the European standard, ten subjects with different face shapes were taken into account. Small, narrow face shapes were also included with some manufacturers. It cannot therefore be ruled out “that masks are already being manufactured and tested that are suitable for children and adolescents in the area of infection protection”.
The fact that the masks have so far – at least not officially – been tailored to children’s faces is currently not the only problem. For example, the state of Baden-Württemberg is sitting on 20 million unusable FFP2 masks * because they do not fully meet the required standard.
In view of the currently falling number of new infections with the corona virus, federal states such as Baden-Württemberg want to relax the mask requirement *. That should at least accommodate the parents who have resisted the mask requirement for children *. * BW24 is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA .
