Did Karl Lauterbach violate the corona isolation rules?

health department determined

Created: 09/16/2022, 13:37

By: Andreas Schmid

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD).

Did he break Corona rules?

© Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Karl Lauterbach's corona infection could occupy the judiciary.

Did the minister break isolation rules?

The health department is investigating.

Berlin – At the beginning of August, Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach was infected with the corona virus.

“Unfortunately, despite taking great care, I fell ill with Corona.

Despite the 4th vaccination,” wrote the SPD politician himself on Twitter on August 5th.

On the evening of August 4th, his corona test was positive.

"The symptoms are still mild."

Later, the minister reported on television appearances of "a very bad cough and a high fever".

By then Lauterbach had long since recovered.

But was he already on August 10 when he personally attended a cabinet meeting?

Now the Berlin health department is investigating.

Corona: Berlin health department is investigating Lauterbach

The Berlin-Mitte health department is currently dealing with Lauterbach, reported the

on Friday (September 16).

The background is a possible violation of the isolation regulations of the state of Berlin.

A total of five reports were received from citizens against Lauterbach.

The key question: Did the Minister of Health end his quarantine prematurely?

The fact is that Lauterbach attended a cabinet meeting on August 10th.

The day before, he posted a picture on Twitter with four self-tests that are becoming increasingly negative and wrote: "It's slowly improving." This was followed by three more negative self-tests and a PCR test.

However, this should still have been positive.

Lauterbach after Corona in the cabinet: violation of isolation rules?

Explosive: According to the rules from the beginning of August, the isolation requirement is actually ten days.

The Corona Ordinance of the State of Berlin only allows early termination if infected people have been symptom-free for at least 48 hours.

According to the Federal Ministry of Health, this was the case with Lauterbach.

However, the minister told ARD on the evening of August 9 that although he was negative again, he did not feel “quite fit yet”.

The next day, Lauterbach ended his isolation and showed up in the cabinet.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health told the AFP news agency that the Health Department had contacted the Ministry weeks ago.

At that time, the office was given the same information as the public about the minister's isolation period and test results.

Lauterbach had a PCR test five working days after he was found to be infected.

The CT value of the test, an indicator of the viral load, was well over 30 and thus indicated that it was no longer infectious at this point.

Before leaving isolation on August 10, three quick tests were negative and Lauterbach had been symptom-free for more than 48 hours.

"Since the minister wanted to be sure that he was no longer contagious," he also confirmed the rapid tests with a PCR test.

"According to our information, the case for the health department is over," said the BMG.

Meanwhile, Lauterbach campaigned for the new Corona rules in the Federal Council on Friday – with success.