A medical practitioner in southern Germany has been imprisoned and ordered to pay a €28,000 (£24,700) fine after she gave out thousands of exemption notes to people who didn’t want to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 58-year-old woman has also been banned from practising for three years after the court found she had not met nor examined the patients she had issued them to.
Her actions were said to be “more reminiscent of a sale than a medical procedure”.
The doctor cannot be named for legal reasons, as in Germany those convicted of less serious crimes or crimes with lessened public interest are entitled to anonymity.
The woman’s legal team argued in court that masks were harmful to human health and claimed she had acted out of ethical reasons.
Lawyer Beate Bahner told broadcaster ARD outside the courthouse: “There are things that you don’t need to examine. If you take away my ability to breathe you don’t need a physical check-up to confirm that.”
She added that her client intended to appeal the decision.
This is the second time such a case has been heard in a German court, as last November a doctor in Bavaria was given a one year sentence and ordered to pay a €50,000 (£44,000) fine for giving mask exemption notes to children.
Other doctors have been fined for giving patients fake mask exemptions or falsifying vaccine passports.
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Those who test positive will not need to isolate due to the scrapping of quarantine rules in the UK.
However concerns are growing that a new variant that can evade vaccination or immunity from previous infection may soon become prevalent.
Other countries that have introduced testing for arrivals from China include the US, Japan, Taiwan, France, Spain and Italy.