Health minister calls for tougher restrictions ahead of Friday's summit

Ahead of Friday’s summit between the German federal government and the federal states, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has expressed his support for tougher restrictions to combat coronavirus, particularly contact restrictions. He is also in favour of shortening the quarantine period. 

Lauterbach: Restrictions needed to combat “heavy wave”

In an interview with the RND, Lauterbach said that he wanted to encourage the state premiers to agree to tighter contact restrictions at the coronavirus summit on Friday, as well as a shorter quarantine period. “Unfortunately, tightening [restrictions] will be necessary in order to counter the heavy wave that is coming our way,” he said. “I will make suggestions.” 

He did not give any specific details about what he had planned, but he emphasised that there was no reason yet to sound the all-clear, especially for unvaccinated people. “You cannot promise them that the contact restrictions will be lifted for them in the short or medium term,” he said.

Ministers to discuss shortening quarantine period in Germany

The state premiers will meet with the federal government on Friday to reassess the pandemic situation in Germany. One of the major topics up for discussion is the proposal to shorten the quarantine period for infected people and contact persons - a step that has already been taken by numerous countries in Europe and further afield - to avoid staff shortages in key industries like healthcare, logistics and the emergency services. 

“Studies show that the incubation period - including the phase in which the virus spreads in the body and the phase in which a person is contagious - is much shorter with Omicron,” Lauterbach explained. “So we can shorten the quarantine period to a certain extent without taking any risks.” 

The Federal Government’s Expert Council discussed this measure on Tuesday. The Robert Koch Institute is reportedly considering a recommendation to cut the quarantine period to five days for people who contract COVID but aren’t displaying any symptoms and test negative. 

Calls for schools to remain open despite Omicron wave

Ministers also want to discuss how they can ensure that primary and secondary schools in Germany can remain open, despite rising infection rates. The Federal Minister of Education, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, has appealed to the federal and state leaders to reject school closures, stating that classroom teaching must have “absolute priority.” 

The state health ministers are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss their proposals for Friday’s summit. The ministers of education will also meet on Wednesday to outline an action plan for keeping schools open. The federal-state summit is scheduled for Friday afternoon.