Free corona self-tests? In Bavaria there is chaos on the first day - "We are overrun"

From March 8th there should be free corona self-tests for citizens in Germany - actually.

But at the start of the next large-scale campaign in the coronavirus pandemic, things are going wrong - at least in Bavaria.

• Coronavirus pandemic in Germany

  : From March 8, there will be

  free corona self-tests

  for citizens.

• But already on the first day

  it gets chaotic in Bavaria

  - the citizens react with incomprehension.

• The pharmacists do not know where and

  how to settle the Covid-19 self-tests

  .

Munich / Weilheim in Oberbayern / Berlin - So you should be the next game changer in the coronavirus pandemic: free corona rapid tests, available to everyone.

In all of Germany.

But already on the first day (March 8) of the large-scale campaign by the Federal Government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), the Health Ministry of Jens Spahn (CDU) and the federal states, a lot went wrong - at least in Bavaria.

Coronavirus pandemic in Germany: mega breakdown at the start of the corona rapid tests

The next glitch in corona crisis management!

Specifically: Many pharmacies in Bavaria were unable to give citizens free rapid tests on this Monday because it was still completely unclear how and from whom they would be reimbursed the costs for them.

What a mess.

How can that be?

A spokeswoman for the Federal

Ministry

of Health explained to 

Merkur.de

: “The Minister has emphasized several times that the federal government is responsible for procuring the self-tests.

The implementation is up to the federal states. "

However, the Bavarian Ministry of Health in Munich left a written request from our editorial team with questions about responsibility unanswered on March 8th.

Corona rapid test in Germany: At the start of the campaign, there is pure chaos in Bavaria

At this point in time, the criticism from the pharmacy industry was already enormous.

“We are in the starting blocks, ready, including the test laboratory.

But we don't know where to bill for the self-tests, ”explained the pharmacist Iris Hundertmark from Weilheim in Upper Bavaria in an interview with

Merkur.de

.

She

checked

with the

Bayerischer Apothekerverband eV

days ago

, but she did not get an answer from them either.

“We are overrun today, we have a lot of inquiries.

The citizens' lack of understanding is great, "continued Hundertmark:" I'm waiting for the starting gun. "

Mega mishap around corona rapid tests in Bavaria: who slammed?

According to reports, there is also great astonishment among general practitioners and specialists at the bumpy organization of the rapid test campaign in Bavaria.

"The starting shot is actually missing," said the spokesman for the

Bavarian Pharmacists' Association

, Thomas Metz, on Monday morning at an appointment in Munich.

Therefore, there is a lack of clarity about how much the federal government pays the pharmacies for each rapid test.

Although it cannot be ruled out that individual pharmacies made advance payments on Monday and offer quick tests free of charge, this is currently only possible for self-payers.

“But there doesn't seem to be too much rush,” said Metz.

+

Problem solver in the coronavirus pandemic?

The corona rapid tests in Germany.

© Martin Wagner via www.imago-images.de

How many of the around 3,000 public pharmacies in Bavaria will offer free rapid tests in the coming days cannot be reliably estimated, explained Metz according to the

German Press Agency (dpa)

.

And: "We are currently waiting for the revised Corona Test Ordinance to be published in the Federal Gazette."

Corona rapid tests in Bavaria and Germany: Federal confusion between the federal government and the states

Because it came too late?

Or has the Free State's Ministry of Health slouched?

In the federal mess of the new corona rules in the hard lockdown (until March 28), this was not foreseeable on the day of the supposed game changer.

(pm)