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With the current wave of Omikron, a large number of people are threatened with illness at the same time – this threatens the loss of entire workforces and system failures. In Germany, the quarantine time is now to be shortened.
Because of Omikron, fewer patients end up in the intensive care units …
DPA
The omicron mutant of the coronavirus is spreading at a breakneck pace.
Since many people could get sick at the same time, there is a risk of massive staff losses.
To counter this, the Omikron quarantine period is now to be shortened or in some cases even lifted.
Although the omicron mutant, which has now predominated, is milder than earlier virus strains, it is also much more contagious: As the “Bild” newspaper reports, it doubles the number of infections every three to five days, while this period is still at Delta was ten to 14 days. Countries such as Great Britain, Spain, France and the USA have already announced this.
This means that the virus spreads so quickly in a certain environment, such as a large company, that entire workforces could fall ill at the same time. According to the current regulations, those affected have to be in quarantine for 14 days and are absent from work. This can have serious consequences, especially in public services such as the health service, fire brigade or police.
To prevent or mitigate this scenario, a number of options have been targeted. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said that there would be “definitely” new resolutions on Friday at the Bund-Länder-Round, he is quoted by the newspaper “Zeit”. He had already indicated last week that a shortening of the quarantine period might be necessary in order to avoid serious bottlenecks.
Halving or lifting the quarantine
Specifically, there are discussions about halving the quarantine from 14 to seven days for people who have been vaccinated twice and those who have been boosted, or even an exemption for the latter if they show no symptoms in the event of an infection. According to the report, the possibility for those who are fully vaccinated to “free test” is an option.
“We expect a new dynamic with a lot of, but also many mild corona infections,” said Tino Sorge, the health policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group. “That is why it would make sense to shorten the quarantine for certain contact persons.” And the deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Dagmar Schmidt, believes that Omikron could become “a kind of game changer”: “At least during the quarantine period there could be movement.”
Lauterbach warns, however, that the federal and state governments should also talk about contact restrictions. Due to the high number of unvaccinated people, Germany could “not afford” an infection, said the SPD politician on RTL / ntv. “The number of cases will rise very sharply, and that will also affect many unvaccinated people, and they are not protected. So I’m very worried. “
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(trx / AFP)