As of: December 31, 2021 8:51 a.m.
In the discussion about shortening quarantine times for critical infrastructure staff, the German Hospital Association spoke out against it. Infected employees could endanger others as a result.
The chairman of the board of the German Hospital Society (DKG), Gerald Gaß, has spoken out against a general shortening of the corona quarantine times to secure the health infrastructure. “A widespread use of infected asymptomatic employees in the critical infrastructure is too high a risk, especially in the health system for the particularly vulnerable groups,” Gass told the newspapers of the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
Gaß emphasized: “It would also be difficult to teach employees how to operate infection protection with a lot of effort while colleagues are infectious at the bedside.” There could only be shortening of the quarantine regulation after careful examination. “We need valid data on the infection situation and significantly more data on Omikron in order to be able to really make decisions as to whether a shortening is possible through early testing,” said Gaß.
“A shortening can only take place if the work involved is symptom-free in highly specialized areas that would otherwise not be replaceable.” In these weeks there are a number of sick leave reports in hospitals that correspond to a “normal” winter season. There is currently no situation with a blatant staff shortage like in London, said Gass.
Federal Medical Association considers a shortening to be justifiable
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, considers a shortening of the quarantine period for asymptomatic Omikron infected people to be generally justifiable. “That would be a pragmatic way to ensure that the critical infrastructure does not collapse when there are very high levels of infection,” he told the “Tagesspiegel”. In view of the expected omicron wave, a “differentiated handling of the situation” is necessary.
“We will have to allow contagions to a certain extent,” said Reinhardt. Of course, that does not mean that Germany should choose the strategy of contamination. “We must continue to protect people at risk efficiently.” Reinhardt pointed out that protective measures could be taken even if the quarantine period was shortened – such as wearing FFP-2 masks at work.
RKI currently recommends a 14-day quarantine
In federal politics, a shortening of the corona quarantine is currently being considered in order to prevent staff shortages in administration, the health system and the economy due to the expected significant increase in corona infections due to the more contagious omicron variant.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) currently recommends that those infected and their contact persons isolate themselves or quarantine themselves for 14 days if they are infected with the Omikron variant. This also includes those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered.
So far, three countries have shortened the isolation period for those who tested positive for the coronavirus. The Spanish government announced a few days ago that it would reduce the quarantine for infected people from ten to seven days. The US had previously halved the quarantine time for symptom-free infected people from ten to five days.
Argentina announced a reduction in the quarantine of fully vaccinated infected people from ten to seven days. Vaccinated people who have had contact with an infected person but show no symptoms only need to isolate themselves for five days.