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German local authorities to open detention centers for people who repeatedly disobey quarantine rules

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) –
German regional authorities are opening detention centers in which to hold people who repeatedly refuse to quarantine after exposure to COVID-19, the Daily Mail reported Monday. Legal experts have said state governments are authorized to detain people for breaking quarantine rules under the Disease Protection Act, passed by the German Bundestag last March.

The eastern state of Saxony has announced it will begin detaining people who disobey quarantine regulations in a specially-built section of a refugee camp, the Daily Mail reports. According to Saxony regional authorities, only those who have repeatedly transgressed self-isolation rules will be detained there. Brandenburg, too, will hold offenders in a refugee center.

In south-west Germany’s Baden-Württemberg, repeat-transgressors will be detained under police guard in two designated hospital rooms. Meanwhile, Schleswig-Holstein will hold detainees in a section of a juvenile detention center, the Daily Mail reports.

The detention plan has been widely condemned, and AfD MP Joana Cotar accused the Saxony government of “reading too much Orwell,” the Daily mail said.

The new action comes as Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel considers whether to impose a nation-wide “mega-lockdown” that includes the suspension of public transport. While Germany had a significantly lower death toll than other European countries at the beginning of the pandemic, its mortality rate has risen since mid-December, often exceeding that of the United States, the Daily Mail said.