Quarantine off GECKO members feel used

Quarantine off: GECKO members feel used

Internal Criticism in the Corona Crisis Coordination Team GECKO: Several members claim they would be exploited by the federal government to enact an end to the Corona quarantine.

The federal government’s plans to abolish the obligation to isolate people who have tested positive for Corona and replace them with so-called traffic restrictions are not only of concern to SPÖ governors and several independent health experts.

The fact that, in the future, infected people should only avoid particularly sensitive areas such as hospitals or care facilities, and wear an FFP2 mask in all indoor areas is also criticized by GECKO members.


gecko intervenes


As the daily “Die Presse” reported on Monday, the subsequent report by an AGES working group contained a paragraph that could have been interpreted as approving the end of the quarantine – although it was not an issue at the GECKO meeting for a long time. two weeks Tue. Although most GECKO members didn’t think the time was right for the quarantine to end.

The paragraph analyzed the development of the pandemic in countries such as Great Britain and Spain, where infected people with mild or no symptoms no longer need to be quarantined at home. The result: the lifting of the quarantine obligation did not lead to a significant increase in new infections and hospital numbers.


Possible instrumentalization


Members with whom “Die Presse” is in contact see an “attempted instrumentalization” and a breach of trust. They managed (successfully) to delete the pass. But it’s not the first time something like this has happened. Also when it comes to masks, the commission should receive questions that should clearly indicate the end of the mask requirement.

However, when questioned by “Presse”, the Chancellery (in which the GECKO Commission is based) states that it sees “nothing unusual” here, as it would happen again and again to review reports. For GECKO, lifting the quarantine is primarily a political decision.


According to “Presse”, the specific case is also a dilemma for experts. From a purely scientific point of view, it is said that no explicit recommendation can be made. The data would simply not be available for that. According to a Ministry of Health broadcast on Monday, however, GECKO is expected to be included in the current decision on quarantine.