The Landesregierung Niedersachsen (state government in the Lower Saxony) has issued its new set of corona restrictions to try and contain the current spread of the second wave of coronavirus infections. The changes were issued yesterday (22.10.2020) in the government's Law and Regulations Paper (Nds. GVBl. Nr. 37/2020, ab Seite 363), come into effect today (23.19.2020) and are scheduled to last until the 15th of November of 2020.
The Paper defines three levels of infection-rates that will classify each Landkreis (each district within the state); the green level (infections below 35 cases per 100.00 inhabitants in the last 7 days), the yellow level (infections between 35 and 50 cases per 100.00 inhabitants in the last 7 days) and the red level (infections above 50 cases per 100.000 inhabitants in the last 7 days). It establishes different measures for each level.
The Green Level
The regulation determines that for events hosted in indoor private locations, meaning your own apartment, WG, room or house, a maximum of 25 people can be hosted. If the gathering occurs outdoors in your own private garden, piece of land or terrace, agglomerations of a maximum of 50 people will be allowed.
For agglomerations in places open to the public, like parks and public gardens, the established limit is set to a maximum of 100 people. The same limit is established for bars, restaurants and event locations.
The usage of the face-nose-mask is set to be mandatory on buildings open to the public, in shops, in public transport and in events.
The Yellow Level
The regulation determines that for meetings in private locations, independent of indoors or outdoors, a maximum of 15 people will be permitted.
For agglomerations in places open to the public, like parks and public gardens, the established limit is set to a maximum of 25 people. The same limit is established for bars, restaurants and event locations, but with the possibility of a requirement for those business to close their doors after 23:00.
The usage of the mouth-nose-mask is set to be mandatory on buildings open to the public, in shops, in public transport and in events, as well as open locations when there is a significant agglomeration of people for a long period of time.
The Red Level
In the red level, independent of the type and location of the gathering, a maximum of 10 persons coming from a maximum of two households will be allowed. Additionally, a curfew will be enforced
It is also possible that a the use of a mouth-nose-mask will be set to be mandatory even in public open spaces, like streets and sidewalks.
Independent of the situation, the social-distancing guideline to maintain a minimum distance of 1,5m to other individuals is maintained on all levels.
Some of these determinations can be decided by the Landkreis itself, like the use of masks in public open spaces in the red level or the curfew for bars and restaurants at a yellow level. Oldenburg is actually split into two, there is Oldenburg (where the city of Oldenburg is located) and the Landkreis Oldenburg (mostly a rural district, containing also a few small municipalities like Hude and the capital Wildeshausen).
The current numbers, collected today (23.10.2020), indicate that the Landkreis Oldenburg is currently above the 50 infections per 100.000 inhabitants on the 7-day-index, which means it is currently classified at the red level. Oldenburg, where the city of Oldenburg is, is currently sitting at less than 30 on the 7-day-index, so it's currently at the green level. These values are updated daily, and you can check them in the Niedersachsen webside.
Questions regarding tourism
If you travel to a country that is currently listed as a risk-location by the Robert-Koch-Institute, you must quarantine yourself in your home until you can prove, through a test, that you were not infected. You should call your doctor (Hausartz) upon arrival and request a coronavirus test. In that case, if you perform the test within the first 10 days of arrival, the costs for the test are payed by the government. If you are coming from a location that was not classified as a risk-location, or if you don't perform the test in the first 10 days, you have to cover the costs yourself (in the case of the traveler returning from the non-risk location, the test is not optional). You should also inform the Gesundheitsamt (health department) of your Landkreis (click here for the Gesundheitsamt Oldenburg) about your arrival from a risk-location.
One important thing to observe here: if you live in a Studentenwohnheim from the Studentenwerk, it could be that you are not allowed to quarentene in your room, and would need to find a new location to quarentene. If that is your situation, contact us.
When it comes to travelling inside Germany, you can travel anywhere if you are coming from an area that is currently below the red level (i.e. below 50 infections per 100.000 inhabitants in the 7-day-index). If you are travelling from a red area, you must be able to show a negative test that is not older than 48 hours, and you will probably have to cover the costs yourself.
Keep in mind that these informations are time sensitive. We will do our best to keep posting more information as new determinations become available. In the meantime, if you have any questions or if you find yourself in a hard situation for any coronavirus-related situation, feel free to reach out to us using our contact form or writing an email to hgas@uol.de. We will do our best to help you out!
You can find more information in this article from NWZ (in german), as well as in the official website from the Niedersachsen government. This blog post used both of these as sources.