You might have probably heard that it's more or less relaxed now in Germany regarding #COVID19 restrictions. But if you're curious how it actually works, here's a thread for you. The situation is still ongoing, so I'll add more tweets over time.

Everything happens in the Bavarian district of Fürstenfeldbruck (FFB for short). Don't even try to pronounce it, I warned you. We live in #Germering, where our son goes to a kindergarten. This Wednesday at 19:42 (7:42 pm for my imperial readers) we've got an email.

To give you a clue, people don't typically work that late at night in Germany. The subject was alarming: "Coronafall im Kindergarten" (Case of Corona in kindergarten). The content was simple. One of the teachers in our group got a positive test result.

They asked not to bring a child the next day. The email ended with "more information tomorrow." At 10:00 on Thursday, we've got one more message: await a call from the Gesundheitsamt (the Health Authority). And another one at 13:30 with the detailed instructions.

- The group is closed till September 28.
- Our son has to stay home and not go to any other child care or meet other children.
- The quarantine does not apply to other family members.
- The second group in the kindergarten works as before.

Later the same day, we've got a call from the local health authority. They've basically said the same and repeated many times that the child isn't allowed to go outside other than for a test. They've also instructed us to pass two tests: tomorrow and in five days.

Apparently, there's a regulation that obliges infected teachers to stay home (obviously). It's up to the local health authority to decide whether their colleagues, children, and parents must do the same. In our case, they decided to apply the rule to teachers from the same group.

Children got quarantined, too. They decided to exempt other teachers and parents. Funnily enough, though, we've got instructed to keep a distance from our son as much as possible. Anyway, even though we're not forced to stay home, we decided to self-isolate for the next 10 days.

Some other families did the same. Probably, no one wants to be that guy because of who the office got closed. Many also did a test before the call from the Gesundheitsamt. Speaking about tests, today, we went to a testing place.

The only way to get there is by car. I mean, one can take a bus, but they explicitly warn not to do this. If one doesn't have a car, they'll send a doctor to their place (presumably). There's only one testing place in FFB. It's 25 minutes away from Germering, not a big deal.

So, today (it's Friday, just in case) we went there. We found a parking lot for about 20 cars. The procedure is the following. One goes out of a vehicle and scans a QR code. It leads to a page where one fills a simple form with contact details and a reason to take a test.

The page generates another QR code that's scanned by personnel. They actually waited for us and had a list with all children from the group. After I filled another form manually and they checked our IDs, we went out of the tent and proceeded to the container.

There they took swabs from all of us. I think it's not mandatory for parents, but we were already there anyway. By the way, the test is free in Bavaria even if there's no good reason to do it. There were just a few people, so the whole story took less than 20 minutes.

The results should arrive in the email in two days. They don't affect the quarantine, though. Even if the tests are negative, the child still has to stay home. That's the whole story for now. In other news, we're waiting for food delivery from a grocery.

The funny fact while you're here. There are two groups in our kindergarten: Pandabären (panda bears) and Koalabären (koala bears). I can't blame you if you don't find this fact funny. Our son goes to the former that's affected.

@SZ has published an article about the situation as it seems to be a rather major local event. https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/fuerstenfeldbruck/germering-eichenau-corona-im-kindergarten-1.5035887

The picture in the article is outdated, though. The kindergarten has recently moved from containers to a proper building. To my shame, I don't have any photos of the new shiny premises.

We've just received an email with the official papers about quarantine. There they call our son a Category I Person, whatever it means. The content repeats what was said over the phone but is written in Amtsdeutsch (bureaucratic German).

Today, at 4:17 in the morning, we've received test results. It makes it less than 24 hours between taking a sample and sending an email. Honestly, I'm impressed as I've heard stories about people waiting days and even weeks. All three negative, if you ask.

Oops, one of the children got a positive test result. No consequences for other kids, but the family got additional two weeks of quarantine for every member, not just the child. For some reason, isolation periods add up.

So, they first have to finish the current one (till September 28). And only then extra two weeks start. I hope there's a good explanation as otherwise it's just a plain nightmare. Other families in a chat instantly offered their help what I admire.

The second wave of tests is ongoing. Unfortunately, the child is still positive, so they'll need to stay home for quite a while We're heading to the test station in a few minutes. Yesterday, the waiting time was up to 45 minutes. Let's hope for better

We've spent about twenty minutes there, but there was a long line after us due to cleaning procedures. Also, today arrived previous results in a paper form.

We've got test results. Well, on the bright side, me and our son are negative. On the less bright side, my wife is positive. This probably means two additional weeks of quarantine for us. The health authority should contact us soon, according to the letter.

We've also got a chance to use @coronawarnapp. I'd expect to get a code with the letter, but in the reality one has to call. They don't verify the result but warn that they'll come after you if you lie. In Germany they still trust people, apparently.

Anyway, we all feel good, so there's still a hope that the result is false positive. At the moment, there's not much to do but wait for a call with further instructions. Oh, and it's probably a good time to order some craft beer

And this is what it means to be a husband nowadays

So, we've got a call from Health Authority. There are two options. #1 is to isolate my wife in a separate room for ten days since the test. It means till October 2. She has to have a separate WC and not allowed to have a contact with the rest of the family.

Everything she touches has to be disinfected. Me and our son are not allowed to go outside during this time. If there are no symptoms within two days prior October 3, we're all free.

#2 is to just stay home without other restrictions. In this case, my wife can go outside on October 3, but we're quarantined for another two weeks since then. We decided to choose #1. Fortunately, our apartment is big enough, so we can transform our bedroom into plague barracks.

To me it seems that my wife got a vacation without the family. I'd really love to take her place and do my own stuff without a need to care about anyone. But she for some reason doesn't find it that exciting Anyway, a couch is my friend for the next eight nights.

Ah, one more thing. I've got an official carer's allowance. So, I'm a baby-sitter for the next week. Let's see how it all goes

Just had a video call with my wife who is in the next room. That's an awesome use of the modern technologies, no doubts.

Yesterday, Tracing Team called. They were surprised by two options Health Authority gave us but promised to get back to us today. The reason for the delay is that on weekends they work from home, so don't have access to documents in the office.

They have so many things to do nowadays, so they have to work shifts seven days a week. It applies to both HA and TT. And it's all because the government doesn't want to lock the whole country again. Kudos to these people who constantly on call with infected and their contacts.

As to us, we checked papers and it seems that our son and me have to be quarantined for two weeks after the last contact with my wife. That sounds reasonable but means that we stay home till October 7. Well, at least when my wife is out of her cell, I can work again.

In the meantime, I made my first #сырники and #pumpkin soup.

So, we've got the second call. As a result, my wife is in isolation till October 3 (as before), and the rest of the family is under quarantine till October 6 (including). Employees of both HA and TT are super nice.

For instance, they're always asking how we're doing and whether we can arrange food and other necessities. They just don't know that many people already offered their help in some way or another. Y'all rock, thanks a lot! We definitely don't feel alone. That's the most important.

We've just got a call from our family physician. She confirmed that in the case of symptoms, we should contact her. She also said that she's ready to prepare papers for the carer's leave if HA won't do it for some reason.

And one more call from TT. Apparently, they just forgot to mark that they've already called us.

And it's over. Today is the first day in three weeks when I went to the office, our son went to the kindergarten, and my wife... Well, she's free for five days already. I'd lie if I say that it was easy. We didn't like for sure not being able to go outside for so long.

But I'm super glad that nowadays one can get food, drinks, and other stuff delivered. It'd be much harder to stay home a few years ago. On the bright side, we've played a half of Pandemic Legacy: Season 1. Can there be a better board game for quarantine?

Lastly, HA said that instead of the carer's allowance I should take a sick leave. The latter is paid better. So, it seems to be the last tweet in this thread. Thank you for reading and stay safe!