Which rules apply to the new Omikron variant? – SWR news

The seven-day incidence is rising again, but the numbers could be deceiving – they could actually be twice or even three times higher, estimates Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). One thing is certain: the Omikron variant is spreading further. In Germany, in Baden-Württemberg. How fast? That is currently still in the dark, in the range of estimates. However, many experts assume that the number of Omikron cases will now increase very quickly. According to the applicable rules, many people then face a strict and long quarantine. What is the infection situation and what is currently the case?

the Seven-day incidence, i.e. the number of new corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants within the past seven days, increases for the fifth day in a row. With 232.4 nationwide and 238.4 in Baden-Württemberg, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gives it on early Monday morning (January 3). But: The RKI points out that your data probably only insufficiently reflect the actual infection situation. No one currently knows for sure whether Federal Health Minister Lauterbach was correct in his estimate. The reason: fewer people were tested on the holidays and not all health authorities passed on data.

Stuttgart

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Since the beginning of the pandemic, Christian Hesse has been performing calculations on Corona – as is now the case with the Omikron mutant. But the expert also gives hope for the new year.
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As of 2 p.m. on Sunday (January 2), the number was 3,574 Omicron cases reported to the State Health Office of Baden-Württemberg. According to experts, this number could now increase radically – and that in turn would mean quarantine for more and more people. With the “Corona regulation segregation” From December 14th, the Ministry of Social Affairs of Baden-Württemberg regulated who has to go into quarantine and when he or she can leave it again.

The Ministry of Social Affairs uses segregation as a generic term for quarantine and isolation. All three describe the situation when you stay away from other people for their own protection and for the protection of the general public. For this purpose, according to the ordinance, you have to retreat to your own four walls or to a suitable facility – for example a room in your home. Anyone who is in isolation is allowed to received no visitors and not outside. Exceptions to this rule can be made by the responsible health department – and of course you can leave the house if there is a fire or if there is any other danger to life and limb.

who “suspicious of illness” is, that is, has symptoms, according to the ordinance, it has to “isolate itself immediately”. He or she can, however, test himself or herself using a PCR test. However, this does not work if you are also a household member or a close contact with another person who tested positive.

Also who one positive PCR or rapid test result must be secreted, but allowed to leave the secretion ten days after this positive test smear. If you were positive in a rapid test but negative in a later PCR test, you can also exit from the secretion.

who close contact person or household member is from someone to whom the above points apply, he or she must also go into isolation. However, only if he or she is neither fully vaccinated nor recovered. The isolation as a close contact person or household member begins as soon as one learns of a positive test or suspicion of illness and lasts for 14 days. If the contact person or the household member has been released in the meantime, you can also leave the isolation yourself. Unless, of course, you have developed symptoms in the meantime or received a positive test result. As a close contact person or household member, you can also have a rapid antigen test carried out after seven days and thus test yourself.

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Baden-Wuerttemberg

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The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Health is tightening the quarantine rules: Infected people and contact persons have to isolate themselves for longer, free testing is not possible at Omikron.
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But there are other exceptions: Who fully vaccinated and has tested positive, may have a rapid antigen test done after seven days. If this is negative, the discharge ends, provided that no typical corona symptoms have developed during the entire discharge.

Pupils do not have to isolate themselves directly if a corona case occurs in their class or group. Instead, they have to test themselves daily for five school days using a rapid test or a PCR test. One test is sufficient for daycare or kindergarten children. The management of the respective facility must inform the guardians of the positive test result, for example in the daycare group. If it is a relevant outbreak with several positive test results at the same time, a separation can still be ordered.

To put it simply, one can say up to now: All possibilities of testing yourself out of isolation or of not having to isolate yourself any longer in the first place do not apply if it is an omicron case. Then you have to isolate yourself for the full ten or fourteen days and you cannot test yourself. Even with school or daycare children, the secretion then takes effect as with regular infected people.

The tough quarantine rules for cases with the Omikron variant could paralyze entire sections of society, public life as well as the economy and healthcare if the virus variant becomes increasingly dominant. A fictitious example: There is an Omikron case among the staff of a supermarket. All colleagues who have worked with this person on the same shift would now have to be in quarantine for 14 days under the current rules. Depending on the staff situation and shift planning in the supermarket, a large part of the staff is suddenly missing for two full weeks. Parents of school and day-care children are also among the staff. The other children in the class or group must now stay at home. Your parents have to organize their care and are no longer allowed to go to work themselves. Perhaps they are police officers, doctors, nurses or employees at waste disposal companies. Large parts of the country’s critical infrastructure could quickly fail.

Federal and state politicians are already beginning to weigh up – between the risks of an unchecked spread of the Omikron variant and the damage to the general public if more and more people are absent from their jobs due to the quarantine rules.

In the discussion about shorter quarantine periods if the Omikron variant spreads, Baden-Württemberg wants to wait for the latest recommendations from the Robert Koch Institute. If there are scientific criteria for shorter quarantine periods, the Prime Minister’s Conference on Friday will also deal with it, said the Ministry of Health on SWR’s request.

The Robert Koch Institute had already recommended exceptions to the quarantine rules for employees in the critical infrastructure in earlier corona waves, a ministry spokesman told the SWR. However, this recommendation was repealed when vaccines became available. Because of the spread of the Omikron variant, there should now be an updated assessment, which the country will use as a guide. If necessary in individual cases, however, exceptions to quarantine regulations could be made by the health department. In an interview with SWR Aktuell, Corona expert Hajo Zeeb from the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology in Bremen assumes that the Omikron quarantine period will soon be shortened. In other countries – such as France – the quarantine rules have already been relaxed.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) also told ZDF on Sunday (January 3rd): “We are indeed thinking about shortened quarantine and isolation times.” In view of the high number of cases to be expected, other quarantine periods are needed, the Federal Minister of Health continued. However, the step must be well prepared so that there are no contradictions and no risk is taken. On Friday (January 7th) the federal and state governments will discuss how to proceed at their next switching conference.

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