Around 900 people are infected with corona and have had themselves tested when they entered Bavaria - but do not know anything about their disease. When it comes to submitting the test results, those responsible are hugely behind. That is now becoming a political issue.
Munich (dpa) - Due to massive delays in the transmission of corona test results in Bavaria, tens of thousands of people are waiting for their test results.
Prime Minister and CSU chief Markus Söder has drawn conclusions from the breakdown that became known on Wednesday and canceled a visit to the North Sea planned for Thursday and Friday. "Bavaria goes first," wrote Söder on Twitter that evening. Health Minister Melanie Huml (CSU) had previously admitted in Munich that around 44,000 return travelers have not yet received a test result, including 900 people demonstrably infected with Sars-CoV-2. The opposition criticized it sharply and demanded clarification.
Huml said those who tested positive should get their results by Thursday noon. The time delay annoys her "massively", she regrets it very much. There is a "transmission problem", "there is nothing to gloss over". The reasons for the delays are primarily problems with the manual transmission of data and an unexpectedly high level of use of the offer, explained the President of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, Andreas Zapf. He spoke of a "breakdown". Some of the forms of those being tested are incomplete or difficult to read, and they have to be compared with the codes of throat swabs.
Since July 25, travelers have been able to have themselves tested on arrival at Munich and Nuremberg airports, and since the beginning of August in Memmingen. Initially, the offer was voluntary. For holidaymakers from risk areas, a nationwide test has been in effect since Saturday.
In addition, since the end of July the state government had test stations set up at the main train stations in Munich and Nuremberg and at the motorway service stations Hochfelln-Nord (A8), Inntal-Ost (A93) and Donautal-Ost (A3). These were initially operated by aid organizations. Since this week, private providers have gradually taken over the operation. This should also digitize data transmission at all points.
Söder had only emphasized on Monday that Bavaria was the only state with such an offer, but people from all regions of the Federal Republic could be tested here. According to Huml, around 85,000 such tests have been carried out so far . The transmission problems only affect the rest stops and train stations, where a total of almost 60,000 people have been tested. How many of them came from which country and where they live was initially unclear.
Huml emphasized that returnees from defined risk areas who are still waiting for their results must remain in quarantine. There is also no evidence that results have been lost.
How many of the 900 who tested positive come from Bavaria and how many come from the rest of Germany, Huml and Zapf could not say. The Minister of Health only referred to a sample from the past few weeks - 40 percent of the tests were from people from Bavaria. Most of the infected were found on the A3 near Passau, said Zapf. He did not give exact numbers.
Söder called the "error" at the test centers "very, very annoying". "That must be fixed immediately and must not happen again. All structures must be checked immediately," demanded the CSU politician. According to reports, the head of government had often been dissatisfied with the Ministry of Health's corona crisis management.
Söder would have wanted to go on a mudflat hike on Thursday afternoon together with his Schleswig-Holstein colleague Daniel Günther (CDU). In addition, a boat trip by the two Union politicians to seal banks in the North Sea was planned.
Green party leader Ludwig Hartmann had described the incident as a "blatant government failure". "This is shock news for Germany and scratches the nimbus of the complacent crisis manager Söder," he said on Wednesday evening - before Söder's travel cancellation. The head of government must immediately ensure that the actions of his ministers keep pace with his eloquent announcements, said Hartmann. "Otherwise you have to say at this point: Söder cannot crisis."
FDP parliamentary group leader Martin Hagen tweeted: "Desolate balance: two thirds of the corona tests of travelers returning to Bavaria were wasted or wasted". Söder's staging as a Corona model student is getting increasingly cracks. This time the CSU could not blame the "failure of the government" on its small coalition partner, the Free Voters. Söder had initiated the tests for travelers returning to the motorways and main train stations. Huml is technically responsible.
The SPD member of the state parliament Markus Rinderspacher wrote: "This failure requires clarification." The administration slouched. "How can that happen? Who is it politically?"
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