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Friday 02 October 2020
Von Philip Scupin
Anyone returning from a risk zone abroad must be quarantined. But what about German risk areas like Hamm or Berlin-Mitte? According to the Bundestag administration, four federal states provide for self-isolation upon return from these regions.
According to the Bundestag administration, four federal states prescribe a quarantine obligation for travelers from German corona risk areas. This stems from a note that is exclusively available for RTL and ntv. “In four countries (Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein), the infection protection ordinances as of October 1, 2020 also stipulate the obligation to self-quarantine at home if a person travels from or from a risk area within Germany, respective country, ”it says.
That would mean: if you live in Berlin-Mitte, for example, and want to go to the Baltic Sea coast in Schleswig-Holstein or Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the weekend, you have to be quarantined there. Or you better not even go there. The regulation could also have reverse consequences: Anyone on vacation in Berlin-Mitte would have to be quarantined in all four federal states after returning.
Country rules differ
Berlin-Mitte currently has 52.6 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days, which is above the critical number of 50. The same applies to the cities of Hamm and Remscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia and the district of Rhön-Grabfeld in Bavaria. Therefore, the four regions are, by definition, what applies to other countries, as risk zones. In Berlin, however, it is still unclear whether districts can be assessed individually. The Senate rejects it. The value for all of Berlin was 32.7 cases on Thursday, and the Senate imposed a limit of 30 on itself.
According to the memorandum, the classification of risk areas is regulated differently in the federal states. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Rhineland-Palatinate, an area in the interior of Germany is automatically considered a risk area as soon as the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) counts the 7-day incidence above 50 cases. In Schleswig-Holstein and Berlin an express classification as a risk area is required by the Ministry of Health or the responsible administration of the Senate. Schleswig-Holstein is classifying Berlin-Mitte as a risk zone. However, there is information on the website of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Office for Health and Social Affairs that Berlin is only considered a city as a whole.
Different ways of dealing with MPs
The rules should not apply to politicians in the Bundestag, which is located in Berlin-Mitte. Schleswig-Holstein expressly excludes them if they return from Berlin-Mitte as part of their parliamentary job. Rhineland-Palatinate and the state of Berlin emphasize that people are excluded, “whose activities are absolutely necessary for the maintenance of the ‘functioning of the parliament, the government and the administration of the federal government.'”
The situation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is more difficult: there is only one option to be exempted from quarantine “if this is justified after weighing all the concerns involved.” This must be confirmed ex officio or by the responsible health authority. So for MPs like Philipp Amthor of the CDU, who has his constituency in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: you need to quickly contact the responsible authority. Because the week of sessions in the Bundestag ends today Friday, and most of the Members would like to go home for the weekend. Amthor’s office said on ntv request that it was unaware of the regulation as of yet.
