The summer months bring changes in the corona test situation: Medical practices no longer offer free PCR or rapid tests.
In addition, stricter rules for visitors to old people's and nursing homes will apply again from mid-August - those who have not been vaccinated have to be prepared for regular testing.
District
- If you want to be tested for Corona by your family doctor, you can now be asked to pay: For a month now, the resident doctors have no longer offered free PCR and rapid tests in their practices. The only exception is for patients who have to be tested for the corona virus due to symptoms. In test centers and pharmacies, the Free State's offer to regularly make free corona tests available to all citizens will remain in place for the time being.
"It's a precarious situation," says Peter Lidzba, the spokesman for the doctors in private practice in the Weilheim-Schongau district.
After a year, the so-called “tests for everyone”, which gave people without symptoms a free test option in doctor's offices, expired.
The resulting personnel and material costs, for which the Free State no longer pays, should now be covered by the patients themselves.
Every doctor's practice determines the cost of a test itself
"How much a test costs is up to each doctor's practice," explains Lidzba.
The range for a rapid test would be 15 to 25 euros, whereas a PCR test could cost between 45 and 49 euros.
"But that is still many times cheaper than doing a test at the airport," emphasizes the doctor.
According to Lidzba, testing is still necessary, "especially in vulnerable contexts" - that is, in hospitals or nursing homes.
However, the requirement for test stations to also have to document all results electronically has led to a decline in supply.
Especially since the software required costs around 12,000 euros.
For this reason, the citizen test stations operated by the BRK have already ceased operations in the district.
According to Lidzba, resident doctors are ready to help close this gap in testing options.
"But that has to cover costs and be socially acceptable," says the doctor's spokesman.
In the long term, however, the best solution is to get vaccinated.
“Tests will no longer receive great funding.
There is now a sufficient range of vaccinations for this. "
Free tests are still possible in pharmacies, as the pharmacy spokesman for the district, Philipp Kircher, assures.
How this will develop, however, he cannot assess.
The Peißenberg pharmacist assumes that the demand for tests will decline as soon as they are no longer available free of charge.
"Maybe then you can also vaccinate more."
Currently, the need for corona tests is no longer too high, but it is continuously available.
“The holiday season is a little more crowded.
And there are still some who need a test for the hospital or old people's home, ”says Kircher.
The renewed test obligation applies from August 16
In fact, there is currently no compulsory test for visitors to old people's or nursing homes.
"Currently we only have to record the contact details for follow-up," said the head of the Heilig Geist Spital in Schongau, Christian Osterried, at our newspaper's request.
That would be due to the low incidence below 50. Rainer Schlosser from the Weilheim town hall also comments on the current situation for visitors: "We haven't had a test requirement for about four weeks."
However, that will soon change again: From August 16, there will again be stricter rules for old people's and care facilities.
With the new version of the Infection Protection Act coming into force, only those who have been fully vaccinated, recovered or tested negative for the virus will be allowed into the buildings.
