Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was first identified during an initial outbreak in Wuhan in China in December 2019 and subsequently spread to more than 150 other countries around the world, including Germany. In March 2020, the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a pandemic.
The coronavirus is now considered endemic in Germany, meaning measures to control the spread of the virus are no longer necessary. Here is what you need to know about coronavirus in Germany.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is Germany’s centre for disease control and prevention. It is an independent government agency responsible for monitoring and combating infectious and non-infectious diseases. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the institute monitored the situation in Germany, collating data from numerous health authorities, estimating the risk for the population, and providing health professionals, the government and the general public with recommendations.
During the height of the pandemic, the RKI gave daily morning briefings about the epidemiological situation in Germany, including data on new daily infections and deaths, the estimated number of recovered patients, and their latest risk assessment. These situation reports were published in English on the RKI’s website a little later in the day. Once a week, they also provided information about hospitalisations, test frequencies and demographic breakdowns.
The Robert Koch Institute also developed a COVID-19 dashboard (in German), which provided a complete overview of the coronavirus situation in Germany. As well as case numbers per district and federal state in Germany, it also provided detailed demographic breakdowns.
COVID-19 - variously referred to as coronavirus or corona in Germany - is the disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 for short). It is highly contagious.
The virus spreads via a number of means, most commonly involving saliva and other bodily fluids, which can form small droplets or aerosols. When an infected person breathes, coughs, sneezes, sings or even speaks, they can spread these small droplets to other people. This is especially the case when people are in close contact for an extended period of time.
The severity of COVID-19 symptoms vary greatly from person to person. In more severe cases, the virus can lead to the hospitalisation or even death of the patient. Other people, however, may remain asymptomatic. This makes it even harder to track and control the spread of the virus.
COVID-19 patients generally develop symptoms one to 14 days after becoming infected. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are:
Most people with coronavirus have at least one of these symptoms - although some people have reported a number of other symptoms, including sore throat, runny nose, tiredness/fatigue, muscle ache, dizziness, diarrhoea, nausea and headache.
If you experience any of these symptoms, you are encouraged to isolate at home and reduce your contact with others as much as possible. You can also choose to get a coronavirus test (see below).
If you are suffering from severe symptoms (such as difficulty breathing or a very high temperature), you should contact your GP or the out of hours medical on-call service immediately.
In some people, coronavirus can be symptomless. It is therefore important that you follow the basic rules outlined by the German government to contain the spread of the virus - keep your distance, wash your hands, and wear a mask. This is the best way to protect yourself and others.
If you only have mild COVID-19 symptoms and you’re self-isolating at home, you can treat your symptoms by getting lots of rest and drinking plenty of fluids. If you need to, you can take over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol to treat your pain or fever.
If your symptoms worsen and you need to be taken to hospital, there are two medicines that have shown promise in helping to treat severe COVID-19 infections:
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the (former) German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the 16 federal states held regular “coronavirus summits” (Corona-Gipfel) to discuss progress and decide if any new measures or restrictions were needed. IamExpat provided regular coverage of the press conferences at which decisions were announced.
While coronavirus restrictions were tightened and loosened a number of times in Germany, and often varied from state to state, the government devised a set of standard rules that everyone should follow during the pandemic to keep the spread of the virus in check.
The focus is on the so-called “AHALA formula” (AHALA-Formel):
The German coronavirus warning app, known as the Corona-Warn-App, was launched nationally on June 16, 2020, and later became available to download on mobile devices internationally. It is designed to enable contact tracing for individuals infected with coronavirus, thereby interrupting infection chains at an early stage.
Using Bluetooth, it measures whether mobile phone users have come within two metres of each other over an extended period of time. If one of those users later tests positive for coronavirus and reports this in the app, it anonymously notifies other users that they have come into contact with an infected person. If you receive a notification, you are advised to self-isolate until you receive a negative coronavirus test result.
For the app to work, both the infected person and the non-infected person need to have downloaded it on their phones and have their Bluetooth enabled. It is not mandatory to download it in Germany - but more than 18 million people have done so voluntarily. You can find more information on the app in our Corona-Warn-App guide.
Unsurprisingly for a disease initially known as the “novel coronavirus”, people had a lot of questions about COVID-19 and the pandemic situation in Germany. Here we have provided answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about coronavirus in Germany.
COVID-19 can make anyone seriously ill, but for some people the risk is higher. The risk groups for coronavirus are as follows:
If you develop symptoms of coronavirus, you are no longer required to go into quarantine, but you may decide to self-isolate at home until at least two days after your symptoms have disappeared. You can also choose to get tested for coronavirus.
There are several different ways that you can be notified if you have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19. The person themselves may call you; you may get a call from your local health authority (Gesundheitsamt), or if you have the Corona-Warn-App installed on your phone, you may get a notification.
You can get a coronavirus test in Germany:
The test is done by taking a sample from the back of your throat or nose. A doctor or nurse will insert a cotton swab deep in your nose and/or tickle the back of your throat around your tonsils. The sensation is uncomfortable, often provoking a gag reflex and causing your eyes to water, but not normally painful. After the swab is collected, it is inserted in a phial of liquid and sent off for testing.
Depending on the type of test you take, it can take anything from a few minutes to several days to receive your coronavirus test results. If you are concerned you have coronavirus, it's a good idea to remain at home until you get a negative result.
Even if your test result is negative, that only means that you did not have coronavirus at the specific moment in time when the test was carried out. It is therefore important to continue observing the AHA + L + A rules.
The German health ministry recommends that everyone should have at least basic immunity to coronavirus. This is defined as having caught coronavirus, or been vaccinated against it, at least three times.
Certain at-risk groups are also eligible for a booster vaccination each autumn. This includes:
You can get your vaccination at a GP or pharmacy.
There is still a lot that the medical world does not know about the virus - and so it’s hard to say how long it takes to “recover” from coronavirus. In Germany, this is compounded by the fact that the Robert Koch Institute does not require health authorities to report recovered cases - they only make estimates based on the data available to them.
Broadly speaking, the recovery time differs from person to person. Some people are asymptomatic, some people only have mild symptoms, while others need to be taken to hospital. Some recover within days, while others will have related issues for weeks or even months (so-called "long COVID"). However, generally, your recovery time will also depend on how healthy you were before you got the virus.
It is possible to get COVID-19 twice, three times, or even more. This is because the virus keeps mutating, while each person's protection against the virus diminishes over time. It's therefore possible to get reinfected multiple times.
Most people experienced some form of disruption to their working life during the coronavirus pandemic. Those who are able to were generally working from home throughout the pandemic.
Millions of workers in Germany were also placed on Kurzarbeit (short-time work). This tried-and-tested scheme, which was put to extensive use during the 2008/2009 financial crisis, compensates lost earnings for employees who have temporarily been put on reduced working hours due to circumstances beyond the employer’s control. By partially taking over the cost of paying workers’ salaries, the government scheme tries to help companies avoid job losses.
As in other countries across the world, the coronavirus crisis resulted in unprecedented travel restrictions across Germany. However, it is no longer necessary to present proof of vaccination, proof of recovery or a negative test result to enter Germany. Travel restrictions have been suspended.
The German government’s official coronavirus website states plainly that pregnant women and newborns are not considered risk groups when it comes to COVID-19. In children, in particular, coronavirus infections tend to be mild.
While noting that there have been isolated cases of newborns that may have become infected with the disease in the womb, the government maintains that in most cases children whose mothers have tested positive for the virus show no signs of the disease after birth. There is also no evidence of miscarriages caused by coronavirus.
The coronavirus measures in Germany had a serious effect on entrepreneurs and freelancers. The federal government therefore put a number of financial support schemes in place to help self-employed people weather the crisis. The institution providing the schemes, and the way to apply, varies from state to state. See our guide to applying for financial assistance in Germany for more information.
Around the world, there have been a handful of reports about animals becoming infected with COVID-19 - including people’s pets. In almost all cases, the animals appear to have contracted it from their owners.
So far, there is no evidence to suggest that a dog or cat infected with COVID-19 can pass it to another cat or dog, or even a human. However, there have been reports of members of staff on mink farms contracting coronavirus from the infected animals.
If you own a pet and are concerned, you should follow the same basic guidelines as applies to humans: