The virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit has spoken out in favor of so-called pool tests in the event that a test is mandatory for those returning to Germany.
Munich - The debate about compulsory testing for all travelers returning is gaining momentum.
The number of infections with the corona virus has recently risen again slightly in Germany.
The delta variant continues to expand.
There is concern about a fourth wave after the summer.
Debate about compulsory testing for return travelers continues to grow
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has been calling for a few days to introduce mandatory testing for all travelers returning.
The Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock also spoke out in favor of such tightening of the entry rules.
She described the testing of returnees without a double corona vaccination as absolutely necessary.
With a view to the summer vacation now also beginning in Bavaria, politics is late, as
Merkur
editor Christian Deutschländer comments.
According to a draft by the Federal Ministry of Health, the tightening of the test requirement for travelers returning has now been determined.
Corona in Germany: Hamburg virologist recommends pool testing
The Hamburg virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit has now pleaded for people returning to travel to be checked for the corona virus in the event of a mandatory test after their vacation with a so-called pool test. Several smears are summarized and checked at the same time. If the result is negative, everything is fine. However, if a pool test turns out positive, the pool must be closed and all people who were in it must be tested again individually.
“We know all the disadvantages of rapid tests and they cost a lot.
In this respect, pool testing using a PCR method would certainly be worth considering, ”explained Schmidt-Chanasit in an interview with the radio station
Bayern 2
.
He described compulsory testing for those returning to travel as “not bad in principle”.
However, you have to carefully weigh the benefits and clarify the details - where and how testing is carried out.
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The Hamburg virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit has spoken out in favor of pool tests for travelers returning.
(Archive image)
© Christian Charisius / dpa
Corona test obligation for travelers returning: Virologist with skepticism about tests in the holiday country
For reasons of practicality, Schmidt-Chanasit advocated making the test requirement as simple as possible, even if this would put some travelers at a disadvantage. The test of all is better at first, "than a very complicated set of rules that may then have little effect," says the virologist. He was also skeptical about the quality of the corona tests in the holiday countries. “There is a lot of rubbish going on. You cannot be sure whether these tests will be carried out on site as well as we would in Germany, ”says Schmidt-Chanasit.
The virologist also stated that, in his opinion, the incidence is no longer appropriate as the sole benchmark in the corona pandemic.
"A complex index would have to be formed from different values so that the citizen also understands and does not always have to look at ten values at the same time," he said.
The incidence has already become somewhat decoupled from hospital admissions.
"What is decisive is the overloading of the health system, which we want to avoid," explained Schmidt-Chanasit further.
(ph / dpa)
List of rubric lists: © Christian Charisius