Anyone who has been proven to be infected with Corona must first stay at home. The head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Gassen, is in favor of changing that and is making a far-reaching proposal. The idea met with strong criticism, but also with encouragement.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, has spoken out in favor of lifting all corona isolation and quarantine obligations. These should “be lifted until further notice, which would alleviate the shortage of staff in many places,” Gassen told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “We have to get back to normal. Those who are sick stay at home. Those who feel healthy go to work. That’s how we deal with other infectious diseases like the flu.”

The Ministry of Health immediately objected. “Infected people have to stay at home. Otherwise, not only will the number of cases increase even more, but the workplace itself will become a security risk,” tweeted Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach. The ministry said that a further shortening of the deadlines for the possibilities of free testing would currently make “no sense”. The current recommendations were a reaction to worsening personnel situations in the spring, it said.

The head of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, accused Gassen of “opportunism”. “The isolation protects. It prevents others from getting infected.” He referred to long and post-Covid. Gassen plays with people’s health.

On the other hand, the FDP health expert Andrew Ullmann said that Gassen was right in his call for the isolation requirements to be lifted. “This is a solution-oriented approach to enable a smarter and individual approach to corona infections,” he said. “The isolation period for patients with Covid-19 should no longer be fixed by the state. This way we can return to a certain normality and calmness.” According to Ullmann, the length of isolation should be a medical and individual decision in the future.

Gassen admitted that the number of infections had been very high for months and that there were probably hundreds of thousands of undetected infections per day due to fewer tests. However, the courses are almost always mild. “So the problem is not the many infections, but that those who test positive stay at home for several days even without symptoms and are sent into isolation. This creates staff shortages in the clinics and elsewhere.” Gassen called the omicron virus variant “almost a peace offering from the virus.” Anyone who becomes infected after a triple vaccination “even benefits from an infection by acquiring mucosal immunity”. However, no one should actively become infected. “But we cannot hide from the virus permanently. And we are the last country in Europe that is still discussing a corona emergency with such excitement,” Gassen judged.

Currently, for the general population, the mandatory isolation for corona infected people can end after five days – with a “strongly recommended” negative test at the end. Before returning to work, employees in healthcare facilities must also prove that they are negative by means of a rapid or PCR test. They must also be symptom-free for 48 hours. A five-day quarantine is strongly recommended for people who have had contact with corona infected people.

(This article was first published on Saturday, July 23, 2022.)