End of the corona isolation obligation?
Lauterbach "does not want to pour oil on the fire"
Created: 09/28/2022, 17:05
By: Tim Vincent Dicke
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) does not want to lift the corona isolation requirement.
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
Demands to end the isolation requirement for people infected with the corona virus are becoming louder.
But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is reluctant.
Berlin – A new dispute has broken out between the federal and state governments in corona policy.
Four federal states want the isolation requirement for infected people to end.
In a joint letter, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein have asked Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to ensure that the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) changes the rules quickly.
Lauterbach immediately rejected the advance.
"We will not tackle the corona isolation obligation," he said on Tuesday (September 27) in Berlin.
In view of the currently increasing number of cases, one does not want to “pour oil on the fire” and increase the risk of infections occurring in companies or at gatherings.
Therefore, it does not make sense to waive the obligation to isolate.
Corona demand on Lauterbach: no special rules for the virus
Lauterbach added on the short message service Twitter: “The end of the pandemic is repeatedly being demanded.
That will bring new vaccines.
No decrees.” In July, the FDP had spoken out in favor of ending the obligation to isolate, describing it as “disproportionate” – the SPD man blocked it.
Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Health, Manne Lucha (Greens), argued: "We should gradually get into the mode of treating a corona infection like another infectious disease, where the following applies: if you are sick, stay at home." You have to rely on more personal responsibility and no longer impose a five-day separation obligation on people.
Federal states call on Lauterbach to act
In the letter available to the
German Press Agency
, the four countries asked Lauterbach to take action by October 10 at the latest.
In your letter you refer to Austria, where the obligation to separate has been replaced by a so-called “traffic restriction” since August 1st.
In the Alpine republic, infected people have to wear an FFP2 mask for ten days in most places, but they are not allowed to visit nursing homes and clinics.
But you can go to your workplace.
“The end of the obligation to isolate has not led to any relevant increase in reported cases in Austria,” write the four health ministers in their letter.
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"Now Lauterbach must finally become active"
They argue that a large part of the population in Germany is immunized, either through vaccinations or through infections.
The clinics are also able to deal with Corona.
Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) said he had asked the federal government to act months ago.
"Now Lauterbach must finally become active."
The CSU politician, like his Hessian colleague Kai Klose (Greens), is concerned that there could otherwise be problems with the so-called critical infrastructure if, for example, nursing staff and police officers were absent.
Schleswig-Holstein's Health Minister Kerstin von der Decken (CDU) said that one had to learn that the corona virus spreads in a similar way to the flu virus.
"The adjustment of the isolation rules is a step on the way back to normality." Currently, people suffering from corona in Germany have to isolate themselves at least five days after the positive test result, even without symptoms, because they could be contagious.
(tvd/dpa)
