Thousands of people around the world have been hospitalised with COVID-19. Credit: Getty
A German mayor has defended deliberately infecting himself with coronavirus after his girlfriend became sick.
Stephen von Dassel, 53, said his actions were ‘responsible’ but admitted the illness was far worse than he expected.
The Green Party politician in Berlin said he thought infection would be inevitable after the girlfriend he lives with showed signs of COVID-19.
He said: ‘I got infected almost on purpose to develop immunity and thought I’ll be a bit sick for three days and then I’ll be immune — I can’t catch it and won’t pass it on to anyone, but it was a lot worse than I imagined.’
Mr von Dassel said both he and his girlfriend kept themselves quarantined at home to prevent spreading the virus to others.
He argued that if he hadn’t caught the disease straight away and enforced himself into isolation, he could’ve ended up stuck in the house for four weeks rather than two.
But the German politician has copped a backlash for his actions after going against the health advice issued all over the globe.
In a tweet, he added: ‘Perhaps my statement on the radio today was misleading.
‘But my actions were and are responsible. I was, am and will remain in quarantine until I can no longer infect anyone’
In Germany, the country has recorded over 80,000 cases of coronavirus but compared to other European countries, their death rate is relatively low.
Authorities are ramping up testing while scientists are working hard to create a vaccine in a bid to slow the spread.
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