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The plenary session of the Bundestag
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
Since January 14, people infected with the coronavirus in Germany have only been considered recovered three instead of six months after the illness.
However, this does not apply to MPs – a special rule extends the recovered status to half a year.
Legal experts and politicians are now criticizing the exception for members of the Bundestag.
The FDP health expert Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus told the "Bild" newspaper: "There must be no special regulations in the Bundestag." She called for the underlying general decree to be changed - if possible in the next few days.
The constitutional law expert Christian Hillgruber from the University of Bonn also said that there was no justification for the "unequal treatment" of citizens and politicians: "Either the reduction of the convalescent status is necessary from a technical and health point of view or not, MP status or not."
"an impertinence"
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt sees it similarly: "It is technically questionable to shorten the convalescent status to three months, but to leave it at six months for the Bundestag." In addition to the CSU and FDP, the AfD had already criticized the Bundestag's decision that the recovered status in Parliament should continue to apply for six months.
The new rules for attending meetings in the Bundestag were decided on January 10th - four days before the recovered status was reduced to three months on the recommendation of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
On January 13, the Bundestag decided to leave the decision to the RKI.
A reduction in the status of those who have recovered in the plenary hall would particularly affect AfD politicians, as many of them refuse to provide information about their vaccination status or refuse the vaccination. According to the current regulation, the 2G-plus rule applies in the plenary hall: Anyone who wants to take part in meetings in the Bundestag must be vaccinated twice or have recovered - and show a negative corona test. Boosted and fully vaccinated convalescents may participate without current negative proof.
The Federal Ministry of Health justified the shortening of the recovered status with the omicron variant of the virus.
The determination of the RKI was made from a scientific point of view.
The background is that due to the predominant omicron variant, there is a much greater risk of falling ill again after this time or of being a carrier.
The previous period of six months was valid as long as one had to deal with the prevailing Delta variant.
The RKI explained: "These specifications are checked regularly and can change according to the state of the art."
The recovered status, like the vaccination status, is decisive for quarantine and entry regulations as well as for numerous leisure activities.
mrc/AFP