Germany shortens Covid natural immunity status
In new guidelines published by the Robert Koch Institute, Germans who have recovered from Covid-19 will only have immunity status for a period of 90 days, down from 180 days.
On Friday, the Robert Koch Institute, a federal agency responsible for disease control and prevention, published new guidance based on developments concerning the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the new guidance, people previously infected with Covid-19 will only have immunity status for 90 days. The old rules stated that prior infection could be used as proof of immunity for 180 days.
Proof of prior infection must be provided using nucleic acid detection or a PCR test. Anyone who can show a positive PCR test result that is at least 28 days old is considered recovered.
The measures came into force on Saturday.By comparison, in Switzerland, the period for which someone can claim immunity following Covid-19 infection is currently 365 days from the test results.
Germany is facing a new wave of infection driven by the more contagious Omicron variant. The seven-day incidence rate given by the Robert Koch Institute on Sunday was 515.7 infections per 100,000 people.
