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Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (r, SPD) with his predecessor Jens Spahn (CDU) at a meeting in March last year
Photo: Florian Gaertner/photothek.de / imago images/photothek
The omicron wave has Germany under control, almost everywhere in the country new infections are increasing explosively.
In exactly this situation, the PCR tests that are considered particularly reliable are becoming scarce - the federal and state governments therefore want to discuss prioritization from the afternoon.
Now, according to SPIEGEL information, a dispute about who is to blame broke out in the preliminary discussion of the round.
Specifically, it was about who is responsible for the lack of PCR tests.
Several CDU state leaders accuse Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) of not having organized supplies in good time.
The SPD minister received support from his own party: The scarce PCR tests are therefore still a legacy from predecessor Jens Spahn (CDU).
Spahn was responsible for health policy in the past two pandemic years.
After the change of government in mid-December, Lauterbach took over – and initially announced a comprehensive inventory of vaccination stocks.
It is unclear to what extent an inventory of ordered test kits was also taken.
In addition to the discussion about the PCR tests, according to the participants in the preliminary round, there was also a dispute about Lauterbach's leadership style.
Specifically, several country heads accuse him of not informing the countries in good time about announced changes by the Ministry of Health.
This is exactly what Lauterbach promised in the Federal Council last week.
"I personally feel betrayed," said Hesse's Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) according to SPIEGEL information in the direction of Lauterbach.
The Prime Ministers wanted to discuss the corona pandemic with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) from 2 p.m., but the start was delayed. They had previously come together digitally for their own meeting.
The draft resolution presented to SPIEGEL contains neither relaxations nor tightening of the corona measures - the current course should remain the same.
Due to the shortage of PCR tests, however, these should in future be reserved primarily for hospital staff and high-risk patients.
Specifically, it is about staff in hospitals, in practices, in nursing, integration assistance facilities and for people at risk of serious illnesses.
According to the draft resolution, laboratories are already overloaded, "when bottlenecks occur, it is therefore essential to prioritize."
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