Germany's health minister has backed off a decision to end compulsory isolation for people who test positive for COVID-19. On Monday, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said obligatory self-isolation of 7 to 10 days would be scrapped on May 1, and be replaced with a strong recommendation to isolate for five days. But on Wednesday, Lauterbach said he had made a mistake by suggesting an end to mandatory quarantine, and it would send the wrong signal that the pandemic was over or less severe.