That could be something. While Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is talking about a summer wave of corona and encouraging all protective measures to be continued, anyone who wants to continue to take corona seriously and behave accordingly cautiously and prudently must fear that free corona tests will only be offered until the end of June will. In the whole of society, however, strong uncertainty could (again) take hold.
The background is that the federal government originally only allowed free corona tests to be issued until June 30th. At the beginning of the month, the Prime Ministers’ Conference called for the federal government to extend the Corona Test Ordinance. In that case, there would at least be free tests for those areas for which testing is mandatory. But nothing has been decided yet, and the federal states apparently do not yet have a joint plan as to how the so-called citizen tests could continue.
And this despite the fact that the number of new corona infections is increasing and increasing. Which, among other things, makes the nursing association “Biva” rightly concerned. The visiting regulations for nursing homes left many questions unanswered. In nine countries, for example, the facilities are required to offer tests, in six others there is an obligation to carry out tests, but there is no regulation as to who carries out or monitors them. This can get expensive and difficult, Biva warns.
What can a solution look like? The conference of health ministers of the federal and state governments should come to an agreement next week so that the federal government will then make free tests possible. Which, because many test centers are now closed, are then best offered nationwide by pharmacies in addition to hospitals and nursing homes.
What if the federal government no longer pays for the citizen tests? Then each federal state has to decide for itself how it wants to deal with this type of corona precaution. which is necessary. The occupancy of hospital beds with corona patients has not yet been in the red, but precautions are necessary. And something can still come of it before the holidays.
