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COVID-19 RULES

Should Germany get rid of Covid mandatory isolation?

Some politicians in Germany are pushing to get rid of mandatory isolation for those who get Covid-19.

Published: 25 July 2022 10:04 CEST
An employee at a German pharmacy with a negative Covid test.
An employee at a German pharmacy with a negative Covid test. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Peter Kneffel

Politicians from the pro-business Free Democrats, who are in the coalition government with the Social Democrats and the Greens, say they want a debate on ending the Covid isolation requirement in Germany. 

“From my point of view, it is overdue, both epidemiologically and for reasons of personal responsibility, to leave this decision to the people again – as other European countries have done for a long time,” FDP vice president Wolfgang Kubicki said. 

FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai expressed similar views, and warned of staffing problems due to isolation obligations.

“We will face enormous challenges in system-relevant areas if we send masses of people who have tested positive without symptoms into isolation,” he told the Rheinische Post on Monday.

The rules on isolation differ from state to state, but the general requirement is that those who test positive for Covid have to go into isolation at home and avoid all contact with people outside the household. The isolation period lasts at least five days or a maximum of 10 days.

In some states, and for hospital and care workers, a negative test is required to end the isolation period early.

READ ALSO: Germany sets out new Covid isolation rules

Over the weekend, Andreas Gassen, chairman of the board of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, spoke out in favour of ending all Covid isolation and quarantine obligations.

These should be “lifted until further notice – this would alleviate the staff shortage in many places”, Gassen told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. Those who are sick should stay at home, while those who feel healthy go to work, he said.

READ ALSO: The Covid rules in place across German states

However, not everyone is on board.

The Greens’ health politician Saskia Weishaupt said the firm rules should stay in place.

When people go to work, they should not be exposed to the risk of contracting the disease, she told the Funke Mediengruppe.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made it clear over the weekend that he did not back the proposal. 

“Infected people must stay at home. Otherwise, not only will the number of (Covid) cases increase even more, but the workplace itself will become a safety risk,” he wrote on Twitter.

Germany has seen a spike in the number of Covid infections recently, fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron BA.5 subtype.

READ ALSO: Germany’s summer Covid wave set to get worse, say experts

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COVID-19 RULES

Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

Three years after Germany introduced a series of protective measures against the coronavirus, the last are set to be repealed on Friday.

Published: 6 April 2023 10:42 CEST
Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

The remaining restrictions – or the requirement to wear a mask in surgeries, clinics and nursing homes – are falling away a couple of days after German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made an announcement that the Covid-19 pandemic is “over.”

“We have successfully managed the pandemic in Germany,” said Lauterbach at a press conference on Wednesday.

In light of low infection numbers and virus variants deemed to be less dangerous, Germany has been steadily peeling away the last of its longstanding measures. 

READ ALSO: Germany monitoring new Covid variant closely, says Health Minister

The obligation to wear a mask on public transport was lifted on February 2nd. 

During the height of the pandemic between 2020 and 2021, Germany introduced its strictest measures, which saw the closure of public institutions including schools and daycare centres (Kitas).

“The strategy of coping with the crisis had been successful overall,” said Lauterbach, while also admitting: “I don’t believe that the long school closures were entirely necessary.”

Since the first coronavirus cases in Germany were detected in January 2020, there have been over 38 million reported cases of the virus, and 171,272 people who died from or with the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute. 

Voluntary measures

In surgeries and clinics, mask rules can remain in place on a voluntary basis – which some facilities said they would consider based on their individual situations. 

“Of course, practices can stipulate a further obligation to wear masks as part of their house rules, and likewise everyone can continue to wear a mask voluntarily,” the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, told DPA.

But Gassen said it was good there would no longer be an “automatic obligation”, and that individuals could take the responsibility of protecting themselves and others into their own hands. 

READ ALSO: Is the pandemic over in Germany?

“Hospitals are used to establishing hygiene measures to protect their patients, even independently of the coronavirus,” the head of the German Hospital Association (DKG), Gerald Gaß, told DPA.

With the end of the last statutory Covid measures, he said, we are entering “a new phase” in dealing with this illness. 

“Hospitals will then decide individually according to the respective situation which measures they will take,” he said, for example based on the ages and illnesses of the patients being treated.

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