Baden-Württemberg: applause and criticism: echo of the end of the obligation to isolate

The state government is taking a step towards more personal responsibility and is abolishing domestic isolation for people infected with corona.

Baden-Württemberg: applause and criticism: echo of the end of the obligation to isolate

The state government is taking a step towards more personal responsibility and is abolishing domestic isolation for people infected with corona. However, the new regulation leaves many questions. An echo of applause and sharp criticism.

Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Baden-Württemberg has overturned the obligation to isolate, and other federal states have also taken this step. This is met with criticism and uncertainty in schools, among other places, but there is approval from parts of the economy. Because according to the new regulation, infected people without symptoms only have to wear a mask and no longer have to stay in their own four walls. The Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Health Clemens Hoch (SPD) criticizes that thoroughness should take precedence over speed in the uncertainty of the pandemic. His country does not want to decide on corona protection measures until the end of December.

Baden-Württemberg's Health Minister Manfred Lucha (Greens) disagrees. The procedure is based on the expertise of experts, on the other hand, the country is in the transition from the pandemic to the endemic. It's about appropriate measures and personal responsibility: "After two and a half years of the pandemic, it can't be that the impression is created that the state is responsible for infectious diseases," Lucha continued in an SWR interview. "Responsible are all responsible citizens." He sees each individual as responsible, after all, we now know that we can be vaccinated, that we can wear masks and how else we should behave in the event of an infection, said Lucha.

The departure from the obligation to isolate is “currently justifiable from an infectious point of view,” the minister defended the step. This was shown not least by the experiences in neighboring European countries. "Basically, if you are sick and have symptoms, you should stay at home and take sick leave," said the Greens politician.

Among other things, the new regulation should allow infected people, as far as their state of health allows, to go shopping with a mask or to go for a walk in the fresh air. With a minimum distance of 1.5 meters, the mask can also be dispensed with outdoors. Children who do not yet go to school are exempt from the mask requirement. As a further restriction, the new regulation stipulates that infected people are not allowed to enter or work in clinics and nursing homes. The same applies to refugee shelters and prisons.

The state government is taking this path together with Bavaria, Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein. The four federal states had already announced last Friday that they wanted to abolish the obligation to isolate.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach expressed clear criticism of the procedure. "This comes at an inopportune time and does not find the approval of the federal government," said the SPD politician after the announcement last Friday. He spoke of a mistake and warned of a "patchwork" with different isolation rules in the federal states. The German Foundation for Patient Protection also criticized the regulations as "contradictory" and "chaotic". There can be no talk of infection protection for vulnerable groups.

The reactions to the extensive end for the isolation are different. The Baden-Württemberg Crafts Day welcomes "the fact that people and companies are again trusted to find responsible solutions on site". A bureaucratic setting of a fixed number of days in isolation is no longer appropriate, said CEO Peter Haas.

The Association of Entrepreneurs Baden-Württemberg, on the other hand, dismisses the advance of some federal states as "unreasonable", like the Rhineland-Palatinate minister. In addition, an employer can only react if the employee tells him about his corona infection. "The employer still has no right to ask questions in this regard," said the UBW. "In this respect, the obligation to wear a mask can only be checked by the employer to a limited extent." The practicability of the new regulations is "rather questionable".

According to the professional associations, the situation in the schools remains unclear. The Baden-Württemberg Association of Philologists warns of an increasing number of sick teachers and students. "Illness-related failure rates of ten percent before the autumn holidays already speak volumes," said state chairman Ralf Scholl. In addition, the new and more contagious virus variant has only just arrived in Baden-Württemberg. He is very worried "that the state government is now dropping the last protective measures".

On the other hand, the Association for Education and Training (VBE) complains above all about the confusion in the regulations. "We find that there is obviously no consensus between the Federal Minister of Health and the Robert Koch Institute as far as lifting the obligation to isolate is concerned," said VBE state chairman Gerhard Brand. On the part of intensive care medicine, there is no longer any basis for an obligation to isolate. “On the other hand, we receive feedback from the general practitioners that an obligation to isolate still makes sense,” said Brand. "Overall, this results in an unbalanced picture." But he shouldn't give "no swinging between the chairs".

The Education and Science Union (GEW), on the other hand, has fewer concerns. "Anyone who feels sick should stay at home. If everyone follows this rule, we no longer need isolation," said Michael Hirn, headmaster and deputy GEW state chairman.