In future, Germany plans to quarantine all returnees from “risk areas” defined by the Robert Koch Institute for five days if the PCR test is negative. If this cannot be presented, it should even be ten days. The Federal Ministry of the Interior is currently working on a so-called “model quarantine ordinance”.

On the basis of this, the individual federal states should then issue their provisions, which may differ. In the meantime, the trend in Germany is even going in the direction that people who have stayed in an RKI risk area in Germany should go into quarantine. This creates an almost invisible patchwork quilt.

University professor at the Charité Berlin criticizes the RKI's 50 mark

The problem in Germany is easy to explain: At the beginning of the pandemic, the Robert Koch Institute arbitrarily stipulated that a risk area is a region in which there are more than 50 positively tested per 100.000 inhabitants within a week. How many PCR tests are actually carried out does not matter. In the last few days, the news from Turkey, which systematically only reported positive testers with symptoms, worried. Asymptomatic cases were hidden from the statistics so that the numbers appeared lower. As a result, the RKI no longer classified some regions as risk areas. It goes without saying that these were typical holiday destinations.

The definition that is used in Germany is also massively controversial in the medical profession, as it is not based on any scientific criteria, but was determined arbitrarily. Stefan Willich, university professor and director of the Institute for Epidemiology at the Charité Berlin, also agrees. In various media statements, he refers to the fact that the “50 mark” was set five months ago, but was only a rough guide.

“That means, just because of the number of tests, the probability is higher that this number will be exceeded here. Then there is no reasonable frame of reference. I think that this will have to be defined differently again in the next few weeks on the basis of new samples and surveys, ”Willich told Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.

Despite warnings from airline associations and tourism professionals, German politicians are currently insisting that all returnees from “RKI risk areas” will have to be in quarantine from October 5, 2020. Negative PCR test or not. The reason for the five-day segregation of people who have a negative finding that is not older than 48 hours is justified by the fact that the incubation period would be five days. If you don't have a negative PCR test with you, you can only get tested after five days and if the result is negative, you can leave the quarantine. Otherwise a deadline of ten days applies, according to the current plans.

Digital pre-entry registration is further delayed, police union is criticizing

In aviation, the disembarkation cards, colloquially known as "Mickey Mouse notes" due to the extremely frequent false information, are to be replaced by an electronic travel advance notification system that Spain and Greece already have. Of course, this will not be available on October 15, 2020, but rather on November 1, 2020 at the earliest, maybe later.

However, this is exactly what continues to be a problem in Germany. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer ordered that, since the end of September 2020, paper exit cards should no longer be collected by the transport company, but by the federal police. This should also check the information for plausibility and then forward it to the local health authorities. According to the union, many airports simply lack officials for these tasks. By the way, it is only planned that the personal details are compared with the passport or identity card, so that Mickey Mouse and Angela Merkel enter the country less often.

The police union told the Rheinische Post that neither the necessary human resources nor the infrastructure were available for the implementation of the Federal Ministry of the Interior's project at the airports. The employee representatives of the federal police officers also criticize the fact that it appears legally questionable people who enter from the Schengen area without checking a specific prior suspicion. The implementation of the planned quarantine regulations, the digital exit cards and the controls by the federal police therefore remain to be seen. Support from the respective state police will be difficult, by the way, because border controls are a federal matter and cannot simply be deported to the states. Curious: The ordinances on which the activities of the Federal Police are or will be based due to the Corona entry restrictions are a matter for the federal states.