A student at Maria-Kunigunda elementary school in Essen-Karnap takes the lollipop test.
© dpa
Starting Monday (Feb. 7, 2022), contact persons of infected people at Berlin daycare centers can avoid quarantine by undergoing daily Covid tests.
By using the so-called "test-to-stay" procedure, children and employees could then continue to stay at the daycare facility even if they were contacts of a Covid-19 case in their daycare group, the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Families announced on Wednesday (Feb. 2, 2022). The prerequisite is that the contact persons are symptom-free and tested negative for five consecutive days.
According to the Senate Department, the regulation also applies to vaccinated and recovered children. An additional two million lollipop tests have been ordered to implement the method, more are to follow. Parents will get three tests a week, or five in case of an infection, to allow for testing on consecutive days. "Our goal is to ensure that children can continue to participate in social events at the daycare center within their fixed care group, and at the same time we ensure the highest possible protection against infection," Senator for Education Astrid-Sabine Busse (SPD) stated.
According to the Senate Department, parents can also decide not to bring their child to the facility if he or she has had close contact with a person who tested positive for Covid-19. In that case, the quarantine will be pronounced and certified by the health department as before. As before, the tests are to be carried out at home by the parents. If a child tests positive, he or she must be quarantined and undergo retesting.