Regular testing of students and teachers costs the Free State a lot of money.
At the start of school, the first supplies of self-tests are slowly being used up.
Munich - The introduction of the compulsory corona test in schools on April 12 was controversial. Some children were afraid of nosebleeds, others refused the test altogether and the teachers complained that they had to supervise the tests in the schools. Most recently, however, a certain routine had crept into the tests - twice a week for elementary school students and three times a week for secondary schools. But what happens at the beginning of the school year? Will testing continue? Are there still tests? And isn't it all getting very expensive?
In the past school year, only antigen layperson self-tests were distributed in schools.
The Ministry of Health has so far spent over 416 million euros on it, according to a response from the Ministry to a state parliament request from the Greens MP Gabriele Triebel from Landsberg.
Of these, 88.1 million tests were purchased.
The Ministry obtained a large part of the tests (55.1 million) from Siemens, 9.5 million came from Roche.
Over 23 million were bought from a Chinese company (Xiamen Boson Biotech C.).
Only a part (15.1 million) had already been used up on the last available cut-off date, June 18.
Schools in Bavaria: 5.1 million corona tests per week - compulsory tests remain with exceptions
In the meantime, the supply should have melted. The weekly need for self-tests was high: a total of 5.1 million tests were required per week, over 600,000 of them for the teachers. Nevertheless, there is still a reserve. “In any case, the start of school and the first few weeks of the new school year can be covered, even if the incidence increases,” assures Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU). Another tender for the procurement of further rapid antigen tests is in preparation.
However, the number of pupils who have to be tested is likely to gradually decrease: For fully vaccinated pupils - the Standing Vaccination Commission has recommended vaccination for pupils from the age of 12 since Sunday - “there is no test verification requirement”, confirmed the Ministry of Education Request from our newspaper.
As before, unvaccinated students also have the right to refuse the test.
You are then not allowed to come into the school building, but are taught via homeschooling if possible.
Schools moan about this exemption.
Corona tests at schools in Bavaria: pool tests as a practical alternative to self-tests?
The MP Gabriele Triebel (Greens) suggests that more pool tests should be used in schools in the future. So far, according to the Ministry of Health, this is only planned for elementary and special schools during the first half of the school year. Triebel suggests changing the test procedure in secondary schools as well.
One reason for this is the price. A rapid antigen test costs, based on the information from the state parliament request, between 4.50 and 5 euros. A pool test including processing is available for 70 euros, but around 20 students are tested. Pool tests are analyzed according to the PCR standard, so they are more reliable. A result can be available after about four to five hours, says Gabriele Triebel. "If the incidence is low, pool tests are cheaper and more practicable." Samples are taken and processed by a laboratory. (dw)
