Corona infection will soon no longer officially be a reason to stay away from others. From May 1st, the obligation to isolate will no longer apply, even if you are proven to have the corona virus. How did this decision come about and what does it mean exactly? Answers to the most important questions.
What rules will apply from May 1st?
From this day on, infected people no longer have to go into isolation and contact persons no longer have to go into quarantine. The two measures are still useful, said Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD): Infected people are still “strongly recommended” to stay at home and keep away from others. Contact persons should also avoid contact. However, five days was enough. So far, infected people had to isolate themselves for ten days or could test themselves seven days after the onset of symptoms. A minimum period of seven days also applied to contact persons, with the exception of school children.
Does the obligation to isolate no longer apply to everyone?
No, care and healthcare professionals must continue to isolate themselves, for at least five days. They have to stay away from their place of work and also to isolate themselves privately. However, some health politicians, such as Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU), called for the isolation requirement for health professionals to be made dependent on the risk of infection that they pose. This can be determined, for example, with the Ct value of the PCR test. If the value is over 30, people carry so few viruses that they are no longer considered infectious. With such a regulation, Holetschek wants to prevent too many hospital staff from being absent.
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Why is the obligation lifted?
The background is the concern that if the number of infections is high due to too many workers being absent, the industry will be damaged. The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) has nevertheless heavily criticized the easing. “An end to the obligation to isolate risks that the companies themselves become infection accelerators,” said DGB board member Anja Piel. Employers must continue to ensure protection against corona infections in the workplace. For this reason alone, it is necessary to prevent people who have been proven to be infected from coming to work and infecting colleagues. Piel called on the federal government to continue to pay for loss of earnings that employees incur as a result of isolation. So far, it is completely unclear how this should work in the case of voluntary isolation.
How do doctors and patient representatives assess the end of the measures?
Mostly critical. The board of directors of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, warns of risks for people who are particularly at risk. “It is becoming more and more dangerous for the high-risk group. These people live among us,” said Brysch. “Like the Corona deniers, the infection is played down.” The president of the social association VdK, Verena Bentele, also accused politicians of a lack of protection for risk groups. Those at risk would increasingly have to isolate themselves; it is becoming increasingly likely that the virus will be carried into care facilities. “This policy endangers human lives,” said Bentele. However, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians welcomed the plans. CEO Andreas Gassen said that the Omicron wave “brings a lot of infections, but most of them are easy”. That is why the proposal for new quarantine rules comes at the right time. “Otherwise we would run the risk that important infrastructure in Germany would be paralyzed.”
What are the political reactions?
The health policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Tino Sorge (CDU), sees himself confirmed. “As a Union, we said a few days ago that we have to take a close look to ensure that we don’t produce overload situations in many areas by keeping people at home through rigid quarantine regulations,” he said. In contrast, the health politician Stephan Pilsinger (CSU) criticized that it did not make sense for infected people to walk around and infect others. The Green health expert Janosch Dahmen also warned. Not least because of the elimination of the mask requirement, the abolition of the quarantine requirement “gives the wrong impression that the transmission of the virus is not medically problematic”.
Do corona tests stay free?
Minister Lauterbach has extended the offer until June 29th. This means that all citizens, even without symptoms, are still entitled to at least one quick test per week by trained staff.
What about the PCR tests?
They should remain free of charge for all those who have Covid-19-specific symptoms or a positive result in a self-test or an antigen rapid test. However, many people apparently no longer take the virus so seriously – or do not want the health department to find out about their infection. In any case, the number of PCR tests has recently fallen significantly. According to the Association of Accredited Laboratories in Medicine (ALM), only 1.86 million tests were carried out last week, around 350,000 fewer than the week before. Because more than every second test is positive, the ALM assumes that a large number of infected people are not tested. However, only positive PCR tests are included in the official corona statistics.
Will comprehensive testing then only be carried out in schools and day-care centers?
That varies by state, but there’s a trend toward suspension. So it was decided on Tuesday to stop testing at Bavarian schools and daycare centers from May 1st. This takes the new recommendations into account, but “the personal responsibility of the staff, the students and the families should also be strengthened”.