But that was quick…
After sharp criticism, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has now spoken out against voluntary isolation of corona infected people. He announced on Tuesday evening via Twitter: “It would be wrong and will not happen if the health authorities ended the order for isolation after corona infection in favor of voluntariness.”
And further: “I made a mistake here. This relieves the health authorities. But the signal is wrong and harmful.” Corona is not a cold. Therefore, there must continue to be isolation after infection.
Lauterbach announced further information for Wednesday. He emphasized: “The mistake was mine and has nothing to do with the FDP or relaxation. It was about relieving the health authorities”.
Lauterbach had previously announced the about-face on the ZDF talk show “Markus Lanz”. He would “cash in again,” he said. Although the health authorities have called for it to be voluntary, Lauterbach now sees that it would be a “devastating signal” if an infected person “decided for himself whether to stay at home or not”.
The health authorities should therefore continue to issue isolation notices after May 1st – although “that cannot be controlled” and the health authorities “would have more time to do something else” without the bureaucratic effort, as Lauterbach emphasized.
Photo: Markus Hertrich/dpa
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/moderator-markus-lanz-chatted-among-others-with-guest-karl-lauterbach-a79363b02d554f7cbbf5a9600d3c67a8-79684706/Bild/3. image.jpg”/> Moderator Markus Lanz talked to guest Karl Lauterbach, among othersPhoto: Markus Hertrich/dpa
However, it had reached the people that he now considered Corona to be “harmless”. This “does more harm” than sticking to the isolation notices, which are obsolete in practice, Lauterbach went on to explain. In the case of the quarantine of contact persons, however, the voluntary nature should be retained.
The health ministers of the federal and state governments agreed on Monday that people infected with corona would no longer be required to go into isolation from May 1st. The new quarantine and isolation rules should then be based on “voluntary”. There had been sharp criticism of the new regulation from the opposition and social organizations.