The claim

The Federal Council has removed Covid-19 from the Infection Protection Act as a “particularly contagious disease”, so there is no longer any legal means to enforce corona measures.

Our conclusion

The entry “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” was only deleted from part of the Infection Protection Act (Section 34, Paragraph 1). Covid-19 is still considered a reportable disease (Section 6) and has two separate subsections under Section 28 Protective measures (Section 28a and Section 28b). The disease was therefore not officially declared “over” and the amended Infection Protection Act still provides for protective measures that must be observed.

++ German Federal Council declares Covid-19 harmless and ends the pandemic ++ Karl Lauterbach can go, Covid-19 is no longer a dangerous disease ++ Nobody informs us about this!!!! ++ Quietly and secretly! ++ And the government continues anyway… ++

According to the Federal Council's decision of October 7th, COVID-19 will be removed from the Infection Protection Act as a particularly contagious disease. Legislative resolution of the German Bundestag printed matter 480/22 from September 30th, 2022 Corona is over!!! In plain language, there is no longer any legal recourse to enforce any Corona measures.

Text of a leaflet on current changes to the Infection Protection Act

The German Federal Council is said to have quietly and secretly declared Corona to be over and also had it removed from the Infection Protection Act. This claim has been floating around the internet since mid-October 2022 and is still being spread on social media. However, that is not correct.

Infection Protection Act - Amendment

Adjustment of the Infection Protection Act in the summer…

Yes, Covid-19 has been removed from a list of diseases in the Infection Protection Act (IfSG). However, this only affects a single place (§ 34, paragraph 1) out of more than 130 mentions of the disease in the legal text. And it's just reverting a change that was made just a month before. A fact check by Correctiv looked at the timeline of events in detail, here is a brief summary:

After a lengthy political debate in the summer of 2022, the German federal government presented a draft law with comprehensive changes to the Infection Protection Act, which was passed by the Bundestag and Bundesrat on July 5th and came into force September 17th, 2022 One of the many changes concerned the inclusion of “coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)” in a list of infectious diseases (under Section 34, Paragraph 1) that require teaching, education, care, supervision or other Working in community facilities when in contact with those being cared for is prohibited, and those being cared for are prohibited from entering the premises if they are “ill or suspected of being ill”.

... and change in autumn 2022

deleted from the law shortly afterwards and was only in force for about a month. This deletion is the result of another political debate in the autumn. The entry would have meant “that a person who has Covid-19 or suspects that they have Covid-19 will only be allowed back into the facilities mentioned if they can prove that they do not have the disease or no longer have it. So she would have had to test herself.” However, since free testing is no longer required in most areas of society, this regulation would be “disproportionate for students”.

I like to do that, […] I like to take it out there. […] The goal we are pursuing is the same. We also thought about: What can we do to prevent school cancellations?

Karl Lauterbach shows willingness to compromise regarding Section 34 in the Bundestag on September 16, 2022

Approval in the Bundestag for the summer bill only came about when Health Minister Lauterbach promised in a speech to the Bundestag on September 16th that the passage would be removed again. School closures must be prevented; other solutions must be found. The draft law was no longer unraveled and passed in its entirety, the promised change to the amendment came just two weeks later and came into force on October 14th. Not everyone in the coalition was happy about the change, Der Spiegel .

I think it is wrong to lower the level of protection further now with a view to autumn [...] In view of the high and rising number of cases, it should be medically a matter of course that people who are or have just been ill should protect themselves before meeting others Test people indoors themselves. This is just as useful at schools as it is at work or in your free time.

Janosch Dahmen, the health policy spokesman for the Green parliamentary group in the Spiegel interview

Incidentally, the Bundestag does not have the authority to declare the pandemic over.

Further measures against Covid-19 in the Infection Protection Act

The statement “Corona is over” is therefore wrong. The pandemic has not been declared over and Covid-19 has not been classified as harmless. In the currently valid version of the IfSG there are many passages that directly refer to this infectious disease: “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)” is still considered a reportable disease ( § 6 ). The “implementation of protective vaccinations against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2” ( § 20b ) remains regulated, as do vaccination, recovery and test evidence and certificates ( § 22a ).

Two appendices in the chapter on protective measures ( § 28 ) are dedicated to Covid-19 “in epidemic situations of national concern” ( § 28a ) and “in cases of seasonal high dynamics” ( § 28b ). Certain measures that we now know well can continue to be imposed if necessary. This includes, for example, the requirement to wear a mask on local public transport.

Quietly and secretly?

One last accusation remains: Nobody informed the population about the change in the IfSG, especially not the public broadcaster. Corona would have been quietly and secretly declared over. That's not true either. A few examples: phoenix (ARD) broadcast the debate live . The ZDF morning magazine reports on the agreement in the coalition . phoenix showed Lauterbach's debate and speech in the Bundestag. The Tagesschau explained the from October . And ZDF-heute discussed the overturning of compulsory testing in schools.

CONCLUSION

No, Covid-19 was not completely deleted from the Infection Protection Act, but only from a detailed regulation that affects schools and other care facilities. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach would like to find other solutions to ensure protection on the one hand and to prevent school closures on the other. Covid-19 has not been declared over, and the Bundestag does not have the authority to do so. The (public) media reported extensively on the topic.

More about Covid-19: DAK long-term study: Corona fear has halved in Germany


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