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The “No Covid” initiative of 14 scientists has presented their plan for corona-free “green zones” in Europe.
In its paper published on Wednesday, the initiative proposes to lift restrictions on everyday life locally where the pandemic is under control and there are no new infections of unknown origin for 14 days.
This means corona cases that cannot be assigned to any previously discovered and isolated chain of infection.
The “green zones” should be protected by drastic travel restrictions: People from “red zones”, in which there are local infections outside of quarantine or isolation, should not be allowed to visit “green zones”.
Citizens tired of the Corona restrictions should be motivated by the prospect of "green zones" to abide by the rules. Commuters between "green" and "red zones" and their employers should be subject to special controls and requirements, such as tests and quarantine measures .
The authors also suggest setting up specially protected petrol stations for traveling between two “green zones”.
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Researchers from several disciplines are involved in the initiative, including the virologist Melanie Brinkmann and the physicist Michael Meyer-Herrmann from the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig, as well as the economists Clemens Fuest and Andreas Peichl from the Munich Ifo Institute.
Australia and New Zealand are the role models for the "No Covid" strategy.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn had already stated that the model should not be considered transferable to Germany.
Apart from the “green” and “red zones”, the scientists propose three further “tool boxes” that should pave the way for Europe back to normal.
This includes a pan-European “No Covid” partnership in order to be able to implement the zone model across national borders.
According to the scientists, this could also succeed if enough like-minded municipalities can be found - even if not all governments participate.
The third part of the concept is a comprehensive test strategy with better and faster contact tracking than before - including the isolation of suspected cases and contact persons.
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The fourth part of the concept contains the suggestions for business: the scientists advocate encouraging companies to work in the home office as widely and comprehensively as possible - without making this mandatory.
Companies should also adapt their hygiene concepts to the standards in medicine.
If the lockdown should be tightened, the industry should be allowed to continue producing as long as possible.
The “No Covid” initiative is not identical to the “Zero Covid” group, which calls for a far-reaching and longer lockdown.
Ifo President Fuest and the economists working on “No Covid” consider this demand to be a mistake because of the immense economic follow-up costs involved.