Germany’s federal and state health ministers have drawn up proposals to shorten the quarantine period for infected and contact persons, to be discussed at the coronavirus summit on Friday, January 7. Here’s what the new self-isolation rules could look like. 

What’s being planned for Germany’s new self-isolation rules?

It should finally be decided on Friday how Germany will proceed with the plan to shorten quarantine rules for people infected with coronavirus, and those they have been in contact with. 

Several other countries around the world, including the US and the UK, have already made the move, in a bid to prevent severe staff shortages in key industries like healthcare, which are currently under intense pressure with high numbers of employees self-isolating. 

The most recent proposals in Germany are based on a draft document drawn up by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). They would see a distinction made between “quarantine” - when someone has been in contact with a person infected with coronavirus - and “isolation” - when someone has tested positive for the virus. 

But the federal and state ministers have slightly different plans, and - as ever - they’re quite complicated. Here’s a brief overview. 

Federal proposal: Isolation shortened to 7 days with a test

According to the Federal Ministry of Health and the RKI’s plan, the isolation period should in general be shortened for people who test positive for the virus and their contacts: to a maximum of 10 days, rather than the previous 14. 

This period could be shortened further with a negative test result. So either infected people or contact people could leave their isolation / quarantine after seven days if they test negative for the virus with a PCR or a “high quality” rapid test.

And for critical workers like nurses, doctors or police officers, the quarantine period could be shortened even further. Contacts of positive COVID cases would be allowed to leave quarantine after five days if they test negative on a PCR. However, infected key workers would still have to remain in isolation for seven days before being able to leave with a negative test.  

There would also be an exception for people who have received a booster shot more than seven days ago. If they come into contact with a COVID case, they would be exempt from having to quarantine. The same applies to “freshly” fully-vaccinated people who had their last jab between 14 days and two months before coming into contact with a COVID case, as well as recovered people who tested positive for the virus less than two months ago. 

State proposal: Isolation cut to 5 days with a negative PCR test

After consulting with Laterbach, the state health minister decided on their own counter-proposal, which outlined different rules for quarantine and isolation periods for vaccinated and unvaccinated people. 

They suggest that infected unvaccinated people should isolate for 10 days, before taking a PCR test. Fully vaccinated people would be able to leave isolation after seven days, if they have a negative rapid test result. 

If the vaccinated, infected person’s employer certifies that they are a key worker, they would be able to leave isolation “for the purpose of taking up work” after five days, with a negative PCR test. However, since people can continue to test positive for coronavirus on PCR tests for up to 90 days after infection, it’s not clear how effective this approach would be in practice. 

Unvaccinated contacts of positive cases would have to self-isolate for seven days and then take a PCR test to end their isolation. Fully-vaccinated close contacts whose second vaccination was more than three months ago would be able to leave quarantine after five days if they had a negative rapid test result. Anyone with a booster shot would not be required to quarantine.