Anyone who has tested positive for Corona no longer has to stay at home for five days in Schleswig-Holstein since Thursday. The state government abolished the general obligation to isolate by decree on Wednesday. Instead, there is now - outside the apartment - a five-day mask requirement indoors for those aged 6 and over who have a positive test.

It is neither necessary nor proportionate to "permanently order government measures involving deprivation of liberty in the case of an infectious disease, the effect of which is now comparable to other, similarly serious infectious diseases," said Health Minister Kerstin von der Decken (CDU). "The general principle still applies: if you are ill, stay at home."

Personnel in medical facilities may work there as long as there are no symptoms and precautions such as wearing an FFP2 mask are taken as part of the hygiene concept. In nursing homes, on the other hand, employees are not allowed to work for five days. Visitors are prohibited from entering medical facilities and nursing homes. This also applies to children who have tested positive in day care centers and day care centers. Those who cannot wear a mask are not allowed to enter the school for five days.

The state had agreed with Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse to lift the general obligation to isolate people who tested positive. Neighboring Hamburg, on the other hand, is sticking to it. In practice, this could lead to problems for people who live in one of the two federal states and work in the other federal state if isolation is required in their home town of Hamburg, but not at their place of work in Schleswig-Holstein.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) called the lifting of the isolation requirement a mistake. The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, welcomed this step.

Corona decrees of the state government