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A positive rapid corona test
Photo: Bodo Schackow / picture alliance / dpa
From March onwards, the federal government wants to offer free corona rapid tests - in view of this, the association of cities and municipalities has warned against too high expectations.
The citizens should not believe that from March 1st "everywhere for everyone" the rapid tests will be available in large numbers, General Manager Gerd Landsberg told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
From the start of the vaccination campaign it was learned that the procurement of resources against the coronavirus and their distribution to many millions of people is a "mammoth task".
Landsberg therefore advocated a step-by-step plan for the rapid tests: "If the tests are not yet available in sufficient numbers, it makes sense to concentrate on daycare centers and schools first," he said.
Rapid test strategy as a bridge to vaccination coverage
The use of mobile teams, which use the quick tests in schools and daycare centers at short notice, could also be a correct approach, said the chief executive of the association of towns and municipalities.
He also called for rapid approval of the test versions, in which citizens test themselves for the corona virus.
Even if their error rate should be a little higher, "that is still better than not being able to do a test at all".
Overall, the rapid test strategy could "build the necessary bridge to the point at which large parts of the population have received a vaccination," emphasized Landsberg.
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) announced on Wednesday that free rapid tests will be offered in pharmacies, test centers or doctor's offices from March 1st.
The federal government should assume the costs.
For the version of these tests for self-application, Spahn is considering paying the citizens one euro.
Medical officers call for "strategy"
However, the planned comprehensive rapid tests are met with clear reservations among the medical officers.
"There is no point in fighting a pandemic just to offer lots of free tests," said the chairman of the Federal Association of Doctors in the Public Health Service, Ute Teichert, of the Funken newspapers.
Instead, "a strategy and clear rules" are needed.
It has not yet been clarified, for example, how those should behave "who find a positive result," explained Teichert.
It is open to whom these people should report.
It has also been unclear so far whether children of infected parents are allowed to go to school or whether quarantine requirements apply to the whole family in these cases.
"Politicians must clarify all of this very quickly," demanded the head of the association.
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