Omicron wave: what happens if everyone has to be quarantined?

Fire brigade, police, cashiers: inside
What happens if all of them fail due to the omicron wave?

If you get corona, you have to isolate yourself, it doesn’t matter how difficult the course is or whether the sick person shows symptoms. You stay at home and, above all, don’t go to work.

Omicron wave: how can we maintain the infrastructure?

Now let’s imagine the following scenario: It’s the beginning of January, after the holidays, and suddenly the garbage bags are piling up, the bins are not picked up and soon a bad smell is spreading. The reason: So many employees at the municipal waste disposal company are sick with Corona or have had to be in quarantine as contact persons that the tour plans can no longer be adhered to. And now?

The same applies to areas such as the fire brigade, police, supply in hospitals and salespeople: inside the supermarkets. In the statement of the Corona Expert Council of the Federal Government, the rapidly increasing incidences that are expected from the Omikron variant are classified as a high risk for the critical infrastructure (KRITIS).

Corona Expert Council calls for the involvement of the Bundeswehr, THW and aid organizations

“Precautions must be taken in the coming days for the first months of 2022, at the political and organizational level of the federal states, cities and municipalities,” said the opinion of the Expert Council. “Possible partners such as the Bundeswehr, THW or aid organizations should be involved at an early stage.”

It is still unclear whether the significantly more contagious Omicron variant will inevitably lead to more severe courses. However, as more people will become infected, the probability is high – especially for people who have not yet been vaccinated. According to initial findings, the booster vaccinations protect well against the new mutation, but cannot completely prevent infection. Conversely, this means that during the fifth wave, many people will be sitting at home with only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all – but they are still not allowed to go to work.

So what’s the plan? Should employees of the THW sit at the cash register in the supermarket or take over police operations in an emergency? In an analysis by “Zeit Online”, the author Jan Schweitzer speaks of the fact that in such an emergency the regulations of quarantine and isolation in the event of illness would have to be rethought.

Vaccinated contacts do not currently have to be in quarantine

The following currently applies: A distinction is made between quarantine and isolation. Infected people should isolate themselves. Contact persons must be in quarantine. The isolation lasts at least five days. Those who are vaccinated and show no symptoms can end the isolation with a negative PCR test. Anyone who shows symptoms or is not vaccinated can only test themselves after 14 days.

Close contacts who are not vaccinated currently have to be in quarantine for ten days, but can either test themselves free after five days with a negative PCR test or after seven days with a rapid test. According to the current status, vaccinated people do not have to be in quarantine.

The test capacities of the laboratories are already at their limit

In theory the procedure sounds practicable, in practice it will be difficult to be able to cope with such a large number of tests in these periods of time. The accredited laboratories in medicine, which carry out 90 percent of the PCR tests, announced a week ago that the laboratories are at their limit – and that without the Omikron.

It is not known whether anything will change due to the impending wave. When asked by “Zeit”, the Federal Ministry of Health and the RKI only said that no “statements about changes to the recommendation if Omikron predominates” can currently be made. So there is no solution for possible imminent failures.

Sources used: bundesregierung.de The statement from the Expert Council, zeit.de, tagesschau.de

slr
Brigitte