German virologist: Coronavirus infectiousness over in five days

In his podcast published at the beginning of September, top German virologist Christian Drosten suggested the shortening of quarantine periods as people suspected of having COVID-19 are no longer infectious after five (5) days.

Drosten also says that he is confident that coronavirus patients get immunity and that reinfection is very rare. In response to a recent study from Hong Kong which is the world’s first proven reinfection of the coronavirus, Drosten says “it’s all just attention-grabbing” [this attention-grabbing has been exploited by the media and has led to panic and fear, read How media has us thinking all wrong about the coronavirus]. Drosten also says that even if reinfection happens, it is unlikely to result in pneumonia.

When it comes to testing, Drosten says that patients should only be tested after five days have elapsed to see whether they are still infected and if they are still infectious.

Drosten’s voice is important because he invented the current RT-PCR standard used for COVID.

Editor’s Note: Drosten’s statements go against a number of coronavirus “beliefs” which are being propagated by governments and media. But these statements cannot be accused of ignorance as Drosten is one of the best in his field, with his research focus on emergent novel diseases. Drosten is also one of the co-discoverer of the SARS-CoV-2 and was one of the first to publish a workflow for RT-PCR testing. His insights are not to be ignored.

His proposal of shorter quarantine is even shorter than the revised guideline released by the CDC [see CDC changes guidance on how long COVID-19 patients should be isolated].

If people are no longer infectious after 5 days of illness, then what is the point of prolonged lockdowns? This DE article also shows us that there is no point in waiting for multiple negative test results before allowing asymptomatic patients to be discharged.