Germany prepares for omicron wave

Germany is considering changes to COVID-19 quarantine rules to prevent a potential staffing crisis and handle the expected omicron wave, local media reported on Tuesday.

Quarantine periods for infected people and their close contacts can be shortened as the omicron variant appears to have a shorter incubation period, and causes milder disease, public broadcaster ARD has reported.

With shorter quarantine periods, the government aims to address potential staffing shortages in healthcare and other key public services in the case of a massive omicron wave in the coming weeks.

The Bild daily said the country's disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, will present its proposals today and a decision will be taken during a meeting of the representative of the central government and federal states on Friday.

German health officials have been warning that the number of omicron cases is doubling every two to three days, and that the new coronavirus strain is capable of causing a massive fifth wave of the pandemic in the first weeks of January.

Authorities reported 5,204 new cases of the omicron variant on Tuesday, bringing the nationwide total to 35,529. Health departments have registered nine omicron-related fatalities so far, and confirmed that 361 people infected with omicron were admitted to hospitals.

The number of daily COVID-19 cases continued to rise this week, with officials registering 30,561 new cases on Tuesday, up from 18,518 reported the day before. The number of deaths increased by 356, bringing the total to 112,579.

The delta variant is currently the dominant strain in Germany, but experts are warning that the highly contagious omicron is likely to overtake delta as the dominant variant in a very short period of time.