Since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in China last year, the virus has spread all over the world and the World Health Organization has declared it a global pandemic. With the onset of spring, Europe has become the most affected region, especially Spain and Italy. Moreover, the death toll from COVID-19 has doubled in France during the last week of March, and 9,000 persons died in Spain, making it the most affected country after Italy.

Amid the crisis that plagues Europe, Germany recorded far fewer deaths compared to its neighboring countries. Several factors contributed to this, such as the sufficient number of artificial ventilators and intensive care beds, in addition to a sufficient stock of personal protective equipment required by workers in the health sector. Moreover, the country relatively succeeded in isolating the elderly and the most vulnerable groups in society.

In some parts of the country, strict quarantine instructions have been imposed. Germany also plans to issue “immunity certificates” that allow people who have recovered from COVID-19 to disregard quarantine instructions or leave isolated areas before the rest of the population, provided that antibody tests reveal positive results. These tests were designed to detect whether people have been infected with the virus, which means that they were carriers and became immune to the disease. The positive test result allows individuals to leave isolated areas or encourage governments to alleviate the imposed restrictions on some regions with “herd immunity.”

The United Kingdom intends to take similar steps by conducting certain tests to ease isolation and quarantine restrictions. Moreover, the government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered millions of home testing kits which can be sent once approved to front-line workers within the following weeks and sold in drugstores and e-stores, such as Amazon.

Resources: 1