In Bavaria there was an unprecedented glitch in the evaluation of the corona tests of return travelers. Prime Minister Markus Söder is now under criticism.
- In Bavaria, a blatant glitch in corona tests is causing unrest.
- 44,000 tests of return travelers have not yet been assigned - 900 infected people are unsuspecting.
- Prime Minister Markus Söder is now under fire from criticism from the opposition.
- Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus and the corona news from Germany. We also offer you the current case numbers in Bavaria on a map. The following recommendations for corona protective measures are currently available.
Media report: Even more positive corona tests in Bavaria than expected
Update from 9:16 p.m .: According to Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), 1389 out of 107,376 corona tests at Bavarian test stations for return travelers are positive. The Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) reported that, the BR reported on Thursday evening. Data status is yesterday Wednesday.
Accordingly, a total of 72,104 people had themselves tested for Corona at motorway service stations on the A3, A8 and A93. 1188 results were positive, around 1.6 percent . That is a much higher rate of positive cases than the nationwide.
At the main train stations in Munich and Nuremberg, 44 people tested positive; more than 6250 had been reduced there.
Meanwhile, after the catastrophic breakdown during the corona tests on the motorways, the police at the test station in Passau collected documents on a large scale and drove them to Munich. According to the Ministry of Health, these documents would be compared with others in order to be able to locate those tested and to inform them as soon as possible.
Update from 4.38 p.m .: After the serious breakdown in the corona tests on Bavarian motorways, Health Minister Melanie Huml offered her resignation twice. This is what Prime Minister Markus Söder said on Thursday at a press conference in Munich, but added: "I continue to trust her." Huml wanted to "wipe out the gap".
He admitted the mistake and regretted it. "We can only apologize for that in the end," said Söder. “The entire state government is sorry that these mistakes have happened.” He went on to explain: “There was a mishap, and a major mishap” and gave one reason: The mistake happened in the implementation, “not in the strategy ". Because of the quick implementation, the mistakes probably happened.
Söder and Huml comment on the Corona test breakdown: The press conference for reading
Update from 4.15 p.m.: The press conference is over.
Update from 4.10 p.m .: The press conference has been postponed several times. Söder explains that new information has always been added. It is also important that he speak out today. Huml offered her resignation yesterday, then a second time today. "It was a very human conversation" that moved him, said Söder. "None of us is perfect, everyone has to get better in these times," he explains. They thought about it together, "I also had to convince them to a certain extent". If you decide on a common path, a joint press conference is appropriate, Söder explains the multiple postponement of the press conference.
He also comments on the criticism he has received. He assumed this, but had not yet heard from the opposition what could be done better.
Markus Söder and Melanie Huml spoke at a press conference about the test breakdown in Bavaria.
© Peter Kneffel / dpa / dpa-Bildfunk
Update from 4:01 p.m.: In Germany, not everything is going optimally, adds Söder when asked . The Corona app “has not yet achieved the effectiveness we are now envisioning,” he explains. Nevertheless, one has to act, "it is a very, very tense reality at the moment". There are many sensible people in the country, but also unreasonable people. "Corona is really nasty," said Söder. You always have to find the balance between freedom and health . He could not imagine Bundesliga games and concerts at the moment, he says with a view to the planned concert with Sarah Connor.
Huml cannot yet say where the 900 who tested positive come from. A random sample was recently taken from the tests and around 100 to 150 tests looked at, around 40 percent from Bavaria and 60 percent from other federal states. However, there is no mandatory field for the manually filled out slips. Apparently, therefore, it was not mandatory to specify where the person being tested came from in a test.
Corona test breakdown in Bavaria: Söder rejects Huml's resignation and gives the reason
Update from 3:55 p.m.: At the moment, the 908 positive cases are being phoned through. How many have been informed so far, Huml cannot currently say “because we are right in the middle of it”.
Update from 3:51 p.m.: The strategy is correct, Söder emphasizes when asked . “The implementation then did not work as expected,” he explains.
Melanie Huml offered to resign: "We had much darker hours in the last six months," said Söder. Huml would have done a good job with this. He didn't want to do without the Minister of Health's experience either - despite the serious mistake.
Video: Listen to the whole press conference
Söder comments on the Corona touch breakdown: The government does not set the pace
Update from 3:46 pm: “Do you also see mistakes in the State Chancellery?” Asks a journalist, because there, after all , the pace would have been set. The pace is not set by the government, Söder contradicts. They wanted to make an offer for the Bavarian returnees, but did not find it good to turn away returnees from other federal states. “Our goal must be to build up as much capacity as possible,” said the Prime Minister. "Sure, mistakes", so Söder succinctly, these should now be eliminated. "Perhaps the claim is higher than the implementation allows," he admits, but Corona is of course driving the government on and around.
Update from 3:45 pm: "It is a state of affairs now, it is still being compared," adds Huml. looking at the numbers. "Thanks to the employees of the LGL, who have already worked all night," adds Söder.
After a test breakdown in Bavaria: Those who tested positive will be informed up to date
Update from 3:43 pm : "The manual entry has to do with the fact that there was a quick list," explains Söder. The tests were offered, and many who had not come back from a risk area were then also tested. Of the many tests that are still open, around 1000 are positive, says Söder. Around 100 are difficult to assign, the other 900 are informed at the hour, he explains. "Therefore, more staff, new structures".
Update from 3:36 p.m.: Now Melanie Huml speaks about the test breakdown. You regret it very much. "But it is also the case that it is still an ongoing process," she explains about the work at LGL, saying that she herself was there until well after midnight. All those who have tested positive should be informed promptly. "That has been happening since this morning at seven o'clock," said the Minister of Health. The focus is currently on those who tested positive, but also those who tested negative should be informed soon.
You offered to bear the consequences, said Huml, but: "I am very grateful that I continue to have the trust". One now wants to put an end to the initial difficulties, the process should be digitized.
#Huml: regrets again that people are in uncertainty, can only apologize. The initial difficulties should now be resolved.
- BR24 (@ BR24) August 13, 2020Corona test breakdown in Bavaria: Söder rejects the resignation of Health Minister Huml
Update from 3:32 p.m .: "We were pioneers," said Söder. The errors are still annoying, they have to be dealt with. The LGL would have worked with 400 people overnight.
"Melanie Huml offered me to resign - twice," said Söder. He then asked her whether she still dared to do the job and still wanted to, she said yes. It is clear to him that it is not a small mistake, but a serious one. But they have worked well together over the past six months. "Mistakes happen," says Söder, and they shouldn't be repeated and should be dealt with. You will also get a lot of problems in the next few weeks, so Söder with a view to starting school.
Update from 3:28 p.m.: The press conference begins. The breakdown is "very annoying," says Söder, and that is not what Bavaria wants. It is crucial that everyone is informed promptly. "It is a glitch in the implementation, not in the strategy," said Söder. The pace of such decisions is very fast, but is not made by him or the government, but by Corona. It turns out that vacations are a great risk and the number of infections is increasing. "The concern we have been expressing for weeks is justified."
Update from 3:25 p.m.: The press conference should begin in a few minutes. Then Prime Minister Markus Söder and Health Minister Melanie Huml will speak out.
Update from 2:47 p.m .: First there should be a press conference with Melanie Huml at 2 p.m., Markus Söder wanted to comment on the test breakdown in the late afternoon. The Bavarian Health Minister's press conference was then postponed to 3 p.m. at the last moment. There should now be a joint press conference with the Bavarian Prime Minister. This has now been postponed again - to 3.30 p.m.
Test chaos in Bavaria: BRK defends itself after corona breakdown
Update from 2:24 p.m .: After the glitch in the transmission of corona test results, the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK) criticized the authorities. "It would have been better to give the good idea of the test centers one, two or three days more maturity," said BRK spokesman Sohrab Taheri-Sohi on Thursday in Munich. "It's a very fundamental problem ."
The Bavarian aid organizations were commissioned by the Free State to set up five test stations within one day. In doing so, they had oriented themselves to the requirements of the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) and the health authorities. "Since the LGL was unable to provide the appropriate software in this short time, the travelers had to be recorded manually using forms," it said in a message. “It was done according to regulations and the regulations were given by the LGL,” added the spokesman.
Fiasco in corona tests in Bavaria: press conference postponed at the last moment
Update from 2:11 p.m.: The press conference announced for 2 p.m. with Health Minister Melanie Huml has been delayed. It should now take place at 3 p.m. - together with Prime Minister Markus Söder. Originally Huml was supposed to give a press conference at 2 p.m., Söder wanted to speak in the late afternoon.
Corona test breakdown: Health Minister #Huml does not appear in front of the press at 2 p.m. as originally planned. There will be a joint press conference with Prime Minister Markus # Söder at 3 p.m. We will then stream live!
- BR24 (@ BR24) August 13, 2020Corona test breakdown in Bavaria: Press conference with Health Minister Melanie Huml
Update from 1:50 p.m .: A press conference with Melanie Huml and the LGL President has been announced for 2 p.m. You can follow the press conference here in the live stream and ticker.
Update from 1:04 p.m.: After the test breakdown in Bavaria, the citizen phone of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) was not available (see update from 10:51 a.m.). A band announcement said that the hotline would not be available again until Friday. The LGL has now announced that it has succeeded in reinforcing the hotline with staff again. "The background was that the LGL wanted to use all available human resources for the transfer of findings to those who tested positive, then this has top priority.
Corona breakdown in Bavaria: Huml and Söder comment on Thursday
Update from 12.40 p.m .: Green leader Annalena Baerbock also criticized the test breakdown in Bavaria and described it as a “serious failure”. She sees Markus Söder personally responsible: "Anyone who, as Prime Minister, constantly poses as a crisis manager and constantly pats themselves on the shoulder, is also responsible for ensuring that it works," she told the German Press Agency on Thursday. In fighting pandemics, every day and every case counts. It shouldn't happen that the state does not act for two weeks even though someone has tested positive - especially not in 900 cases. "This is a serious omission and endangers the health of the individual and the pandemic protection as a whole."
Bavaria's Minister of Health Melanie Huml gives a press conference together with the President of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, Andreas Zapf. This takes place at 2 p.m. in Munich . A spokeswoman for the state chancellery announced that Söder would speak out in the late afternoon.
Corona test breakdown in Bavaria: Prime Minister Söder is sharply criticized
Update from 12:13 p.m.: Left boss Katja Kipping sharply criticized Markus Söder after the test breakdown in the Free State. "Söder exposes himself as a pseudo giant in crisis management, " said Kipping on Thursday, according to a statement from her party. "As important as the wide availability of free corona tests is, just as important is the careful handling of the results."
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) did not want to join the chorus of critics on Thursday: “Prime Minister Markus Söder himself said that it was very annoying. That is without a doubt. At the same time, mistakes happen in extraordinary times, ”said the CDU politician on Thursday in the ZDF morning magazine. “It is crucial that they are made transparent and then fixed quickly. And that is what the Bavarian state government does. "
Corona in Bavaria: SPD calls for consequences after a test breakdown
Update from 11.17 a.m.: The test breakdown on Bavarian motorways continues to make waves. The Bavarian SPD is now calling for consequences . "Ms. Huml has to resign and Mr. Söder has to explain himself," said General Secretary Uli Grötsch on Thursday on Bayerischer Rundfunk. "He has to repent because as Prime Minister he simply has not lived up to his responsibility and has played with the health of the people in Bavaria."
Next hammer after Corona test breakdown in Bavaria: Health department not available
Update from 10:51 a.m.: After the test breakdown on Bavarian motorways, the Bavarian Ministry of Health is optimistic that the 900 people who tested positive will be informed of their results by Thursday noon . "There are calls on the phone, people are informed," said a spokesman. "We are doing everything we can to make it happen and we are confident that we can do it."
Meanwhile, the citizen phone of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) cannot be reached. The Corona hotline was not manned "for organizational reasons" and could only be reached again on Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to an automatic announcement. The State Office is the first point in Bavaria for corona tests and related questions.
Bavaria: Corona breakdown in Söder government - crisis meeting on Thursday
Update from 10:22 a.m.: Markus Söder was informed on Thursday morning about the serious breakdown in the corona tests on Bavarian motorways. Health Minister Melanie Huml and the President of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, Andreas Zapf, are present at a crisis meeting in the State Chancellery. The Prime Minister wanted to be informed about the facts, it was said in government circles.
Brutal glitch in corona tests: "Shock message for Germany" - Merciless settlement with Söder
First report from August 13, 8:23 a.m.: Munich - In Bavaria , the scandal surrounding a glaring glitch in the evaluation of thousands of corona tests is currently causing a bad mood in the state government . As Health Minister Melanie Huml admitted at a press conference on Wednesday (August 12), there had been major problems in the past few weeks in assigning the test results of travelers returning who had had themselves tested at Bavarian motorway service stations and train stations.
Breakdown of corona tests in Bavaria: 900 infected people ignorant - 44,000 test results are pending
Specifically, there was talk of around 44,000 outstanding assignments of test results from the total of around 60,000 voluntary corona tests of holidaymakers. Particularly explosive: Around 900 of the tests have a positive result - but the infected do not yet know anything about it.
This is shock news for Germany and scratches the nimbus of the complacent crisis manager Söder. Ironically, the Bavarian CSU-FW government lets 900 potential super spreaders unsuspectingly travel across the country. #CoronaVirusDE https://t.co/01rwDYWQSs
- Ludwig Hartmann (@LudwigHartmann) August 12, 2020The health minister's anger is great, especially since the disaster had already been announced in advance. For days, more and more holiday returnees had spoken in amazement and complained about the test results that were still outstanding. Huml's colleagues from politics were also among them. But the problem was initially dismissed "There is nothing to gloss over," said Huml at the press conference.
Violent breakdown in corona tests of holiday returnees: consequences of the Bavarian state government demanded
Now the extent of what is happening is public and is causing a great stir in the state parliament . Prime Minister Markus Söder canceled a short trip to the North Sea on Wednesday. "Bavaria is now going first," announced the CSU boss via Twitter. Calls for consequences are loud in the party . Someone has to be held accountable, they say. The breakdown was a result of government failure and sloppiness, the opposition said.
In a nutshell: "Blatant government failure." @LudwigHartmann on the embarrassing glitch in corona tests https://t.co/Y77bVcFMAg
- GrüneFraktionBayern (@GrueneLandtagBY) August 12, 2020The only question that nobody really wants to answer at the moment is who is to blame for the chaos. The Bavarian Red Cross (BRK) rejected "allusions that suggest that the aid organizations are (partially) to blame for this problem". It is regrettable that the "sweaty work of volunteers" is put in a negative light, said a spokesman.
After the breakdown of corona test results in Bavaria: BRK rejects guilt - Söder under attack
Health Minister Huml commented only vaguely on the question of responsibility in an interview with ARD Tagesthemen. It is more important to act as quickly as possible, so the statement. What is certain is that Prime Minister Söder expected one thing above all when it came to setting up mobile test stations at rest stops and train stations: speed so that everything is ready at the beginning of the summer holidays in Bavaria.
That is exactly what could have led to the problem that the Bavarian state government is now facing. "Since the LGL was unable to provide the appropriate software in this short time , the travelers had to be recorded manually using forms," it said in a message. This had created chaos . An external service provider, who is now to take over the test recording on behalf of the government of the Free State , wants to proceed digitally in the future in order to avoid such sloppiness .
Corona test results in Bavaria: Breakdown causes discussions - further action open
In addition to the actual problem, Söder in particular has to take severe criticism. "Söder cannot crisis", accused him of the Green Party parliamentary group leader Ludwig Hartmann , as well as: "Blatant government failure" and tweeted further: "This is shock news for Germany and scratches the nimbus of the complacent crisis manager Söder. Ironically, the Bavarian CSU-FW government lets 900 potential super spreaders travel unsuspectingly through the country. ”And malice is also hailing at the federal level. Söder should " hold back a few days with clever advice and get things right," says FDP parliamentary deputy Michael Theurer.
Mr. Söder always tries to teach the whole of Germany how to solve the Corona crisis. But Bavaria still has the most infected & dead; Tests whose results are only available 10 days later are rather useless.
Please do your homework first. Https://t.co/mk3V5Enol3
How things will continue and whether and what consequences the Bavarian state government will actually draw from the breakdown is currently still open. Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder is considered a tough corona manager and candidate for chancellor. He surprised all the more with an action that reveals Söder's private feelings. (kah)
List of rubric lists: © Nicolas Armer / POOL / AFP