In order to keep the corona epidemic under control, it is important to search for traces of infections - even with more tests. In the future, they should be possible for an even larger group at the till costs.
Berlin (dpa) - In the fight against the corona virus, tests without acute signs of illness are now possible across the board - especially in sensitive areas such as clinics, nursing homes, schools and day care centers.
A regulation announced on Tuesday by Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) specifies a number of additional test options for cash costs. This is also aimed at the planned voluntary Corona warning app for smartphones, which is intended to inform users about close contacts with infected people. Additional laboratory capacities for a significant expansion of the tests are still available.
"We want to nip the virus in the bud," said Spahn. "This is only possible with preventive series tests in hospitals and nursing homes and when we test all contact persons of infected people if possible." This should not fail because of the money. "It is much more expensive to test too little than to test too much," said Spahn. An overview of the new regulations that will take effect retroactively as of May 14:
THE TEST PREREQUISITES: So far, there are usually tests for cash register costs only if there is a suspicion of infection - i.e. if you show symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat or odor and taste disorders. In future, all patients who are admitted to hospitals should be tested. Health authorities and doctors can also arrange tests without symptoms in certain cases.
CONTACT TESTS: Stopping the virus depends on quickly finding and examining people who are close to the infected. Such a "contact person" is, for example, someone who had at least 15 minutes of continuous contact during a conversation - or who lives with an infected person in the same household. Tests without symptoms are also possible if users of the state warning app are notified of such contact. The application, which measures the proximity between two smartphones, is scheduled to launch next week.
ROW TESTS: If there is a corona case in nursing homes, schools or daycare centers, the health department can order series tests there in future - and have all people examined in the facilities. This is also possible in rehabilitation facilities, dialysis centers, asylum seekers' homes or prisons. Nursing homes and care services with particularly vulnerable older, chronically ill people should also be able to be tested independently of a case.
TEST REPEATS: The doctor decides how often testing is performed, the ministry explained. Among other things, the regulation provides for a further test for contact persons, which could be useful after the incubation period. Staff in hospitals, nursing and disabled facilities can therefore be tested once at the start of the job and then every two weeks. The clinics had even campaigned for weekly tests.
THE COSTS: The statutory health insurance (GKV) pays a flat fee of 50.50 euros per test - also for private patients and people without health insurance. The ministry explained what this means financially, depending on the infection process and the number of officially ordered tests. However, it is a non-insurance benefit for which the federal government provides a subsidy from tax money. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds welcomed the test extension, but is pressing for full counter-financing. GKV board member Stefanie Stoff-Ahnis told the "Handelsblatt" that the specific financing obligation for privately insured and non-insured people was only offset by "a general financing commitment from the federal government".
CAPACITIES: There is scope for more tests. With up to 888,000 tests per week, the capacities were at a reliably high level, said the professional association for accredited laboratories in medicine. In the past week with the Pentecost holidays, 280,000 tests were carried out, after more than 360,000 in mid-May. Most recently, 0.9 percent of the tests were positive.
Ordinance in the Federal Gazette