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Health Minister Jens Spahn is the prime minister of the federal government infected with the corona virus. According to a spokesperson, Spahn still does not have a fever but is showing cold symptoms. All employees in your immediate environment have also been tested for the corona virus, but tested negative. As a precaution, they worked from home for the time being.
However, that was not the case for ministers and the chancellor with whom Spahn was still sitting in cabinet Wednesday morning. But they don’t have to go to central office or quarantine. The reason for this is the strict hygiene and distance rules agreed with the health department in the Foreign Ministry, says the government.
According to a spokesperson, these rules suggest that “even if a person who later tests positive for corona participates, the quarantine of others or even all participants is not necessary.”
Merkel can be tried on special occasions
Participants in the cabinet meeting confirmed that there had been sufficient distance between cabinet members at all times. Some even wore mouth and nose protection during the cabinet meeting.
At the request of SPIEGEL, a spokesperson also noted special corona precautions at Angela Merkel’s official residence: “Conditions in the Federal Chancellery and especially in the international conference room, where weekly cabinet meetings take place, are particularly optimized in regarding protection against infection and are approved by the Berlin Health Department. The center has been professionally verified. Therefore, a whole cabinet test is not necessary due to Spahn infection.
What exactly has been optimized? There is no official information about it.
A minister told SPIEGEL that the chancellor herself had been tasked with protecting the crown in the international conference room, which was designed for around 180 people. Now the air is changed there seven times an hour.
Merkel herself was “being examined for the corona virus in connection with trips to the European Council in Brussels,” a government spokesman told SPIEGEL. On the other hand, there is no regular and unreasonable testing – as deputy government spokesperson Ulrike Demmer made clear in early October – “It will be tested if there are any signs of it.” And also: “There are no daily or fortnightly tests.”
According to the Health Ministry, Spahn had undergone a test for cold symptoms. Symptoms worsened over the course of Wednesday. Spahn then did a quick test. At the Bundeswehr hospital in Berlin, the positive result was later confirmed by a more accurate PCR test, after which Spahn went into home isolation.
