It has been clear for days that the evaluations of the voluntary corona tests on the Bavarian motorways are going very wrong. Now the scandalous extent is clear.
- Sounded like a good idea: Voluntary corona tests * for travelers returning from Munich Airport * and on the motorways.
- It just doesn't seem to work.
- Health Minister Melanie Huml admits fatal mishaps during the tests. 900 people have tested positive in the coronavirus * tests - and do not know it.
Update, August 12, 9:03 p.m.: After the unprecedented failure of the Bavarian government in the corona tests on the motorways, Prime Minister Markus Söder receives ridicule and criticism - also from the coalition partner. A chronology of his failure.
Incredible glitch in Bavarian corona tests: 900 positive - and don't know anything about it
Update from August 12th: Munich - The delays in the transmission of corona test results in Bavaria are much more dramatic than previously known: 44,000 travelers return after tests in Bavaria are still waiting for the result, including 900 who have demonstrably tested positive. The infected should get their result by Thursday noon, said Bavaria Health Minister Melanie Huml (CSU) on Wednesday in Munich. The time delay annoys her "massively", she regrets it very much. There is a “transmission problem”, “there is nothing to gloss over”.
This should mean that all Bavarian mockery about North Rhine-Westphalia and Armin Laschet will have ended for the foreseeable future. My comment @merkurstadt on the disaster when testing vacationers. pic.twitter.com/6AXyyuEufo
- MSchier (@mikeschier) August 12, 2020So far, around 60,000 people from all over Germany have been tested at the motorway service stations and train stations. Huml was unable to provide any information on how long people have been waiting. The problems did not exist at airports, where around 25,000 people were also tested. Markus Söder also draws conclusions.
Original article from August 9, 2020: Munich - Around 50,000 travelers have already used the free tests for holiday returnees in Bavaria. At the same time, there is a lot of criticism of the free Corona tests in Bavaria *, including from general practitioners. But that is now topped again. Research by several media shows that the Bavarian test offer for holiday returnees in the best case leads to annoying waiting times. In the worst case scenario, those returning to travel will feel like a false sense of security.
My personal balance three days after the test at the airport: (You allegedly get an email with the test result and a code by SMS so that you can view it.)
Person 1: Mail there, but no code
Person 2: No mail, but one Code
person 3: Neither mail nor code
Corona tests for travelers in Bavaria: 50,000 were tested - but what good the results ...
Taking the samples is relatively problem-free for those returning to travel and hardly any waiting times. But then the long wait for the corona test result begins . Several media unanimously report that waiting times of more than seven days are not uncommon for the voluntary tests that have been offered for over a week at the Bavarian motorway border crossings as well as at Munich Airport and Bavarian train stations.
Patrick S., Managing Director in Munich, has been waiting for his result for over a week after a voluntary test at Munich Airport, as he reports to Münchner Merkur *. Several times he called Ecolog, which had been awarded the contract for the tests at the airport by the Free State. But there also seems to be tight staffing there. Often no one answered. And if it did - he was put off. Patrick S. will now afford a private test before the end of his vacation.
Travelers also confirm that they never received a corona test result after a voluntary test when entering Bavaria . The responsible Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) explained via a spokesman for the FAZ that "people who have voluntarily tested unfortunately had to wait longer for their results".
Corona tests for travelers in Bavaria: Long waiting times for results - and incorrect test results
The case of a 16-year-old schoolchildren reported by the SZ sounds even worse . According to his mother, the teenager had received the negative test result from someone else after a test at Munich Airport. At the instigation of the parents, the family doctor also tested the boy - result: positive.
It should be noted: These voluntary corona tests are paid for by the state, i.e. by the taxpayer.
These reports paint a precarious picture. In the worst case, the returnees who have been tested feel a false sense of security when they no longer hear anything. Apart from that, seven-day-old tests are almost useless unless those tested have placed themselves in self-imposed quarantine until the result.
The corona numbers in Germany are increasing. That is why Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder called his cabinet together in an unscheduled manner. Schools should also be a topic.
Voluntary corona tests in Bavaria were introduced in a hurry - there was a shortage of staff at providers
As the SZ research further shows, the free Bavarian corona tests were apparently completely rushed and introduced without providing the necessary resources. The test centers could only be kept running because volunteers from the Bavarian Red Cross stepped in. BRK President Theo Zellner is unusually clear to the SZ:
The BRK has the task of helping out in operations such as floods; it does not include the operation of test centers.
BRK President Theo ZellnerEven more: A private provider should actually take over on behalf of the LGL. Apparently he has no people. So the voluntary helpers from the BRK will probably continue to be needed.
Corona tests on highways in Bavaria: BRK helper on stop "like in a ski suit in the blazing sun"
But they are already at the limit. The helpers on the highways would have to be replaced every half hour because they worked in full protective suits. They were then exhausted and sweaty, "like in a ski suit and the blazing sun," said the Red Cross spokesman. 180 to 250 volunteers are on the job every day , a total of around 2000. However, the work on a voluntary level cannot go on. The work must be handed over to professional service providers next week.
Even more: "We get up to 150 calls and e-mails per day in which those tested complain that they still have no result," says BRK spokesman Sohrab Taheri-Sohi to Merkur in Munich *. But the BRK has nothing to do with the test evaluation. Nevertheless, the "reputational damage" for the BRK is enormous.
In Rostock, 67 teachers and students have to be in quarantine today because four children have tested positive for the corona virus. They were already tested from their vacation when they entered Germany. The result was: negative.
Söder calls corona cabinet meeting - it should also be about the tests
The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU ) calls his cabinet for an unscheduled meeting on Monday (August 10) . The corona tests are on the agenda alongside the measures for the new school year. * Münchner Merkur and Merkur.de are part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network.
Vacation despite Corona: Politicians are making serious demands for travel to risk areas.