In Bavaria, people have had to pay for their corona test out of their own pockets since yesterday.
A look at the test centers shows that this seems to deter only a few.
Munich
- Monday, shortly after 9 a.m.: Marco Fusco, 44, has just come from the Johanniter test center on Perlacher Strasse in Giesing. He is holding his two-year-old son by the hand. “My little one had to be tested because he was sick,” he explains. Although he doesn't have to pay for his son's test, Fusco is annoyed. "It's a mess that the tests cost something." The specialist warehouse clerk from Munich is not vaccinated. He says he doesn't trust the vaccination. However, now that the tests cost something, sooner or later he won't have a choice. “It's a question of cost,” says Fusco. "If the tests cost less than ten euros, I would still be tested." The Johanniter rapid tests cost 15 euros. When compared to offers from private test centers, they are among the cheapest. Under these circumstances, he would soon be vaccinated.
Many parents and pregnant women need a corona test
In Bavaria, the tests have been chargeable for the majority of citizens since yesterday.
At the Johanniter test center in Giesing, operations are almost normal.
“That surprised us,” says Gerhard Bieber, spokesman for the Johanniter.
The changeover means more work for the employees of the test center.
“It's new for us as an aid organization to collect cash on site,” explains Bieber.
Five people are currently waiting in front of the entrance to the test center.
Very few need the test for their leisure time.
Many of those who stand in line on Monday mornings are mothers or fathers who, like Fusco, let their children play free.
Breastfeeding and pregnant women are also among those waiting.
One of them is Hera Nasir, who has just returned from the test center with her husband Touseef Siddikui.
The couple from Taufkirchen is upset.
Siddikui doesn't understand why he has to pay.
“That's idiotic,” he grumbles.
As it turns out, there is a transitional regulation for pregnant women.
The colleague at reception probably overlooked that, says Gerhard Bieber.
"There are many detailed exceptions to the test regulation that we all need to keep in mind."
Test centers closed in some counties - pharmacies almost fully booked
Pharmacies in the surrounding area are also feeling uncertainties in dealing with the new regulation.
Some people called to clarify questions, reports Stefan Müller, head of the star pharmacy in Dachau.
There pharmacies are the main point of contact for getting tested.
The test centers of the BRK are now all closed.
Müller is therefore not surprised that operations at the test station continue to run almost normally on Monday.
He couldn't see a big difference to the previous week.
"We are almost fully booked."
In the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district, too, some test stations have now ceased operations.
As in Dachau, the contact points that continue to offer tests are also in high demand.
Politicians actually wanted the fee-based tests to encourage more people to have a vaccination.
And although the test centers were still being used diligently on the first day, there is already a noticeable increase in demand for the syringe in some regions.
For example in the Fürstenfeldbruck district.
"Last week we saw an increase," says the medical director of the vaccination center, Dr.
Matthias Skrzypczak.
An increase was also recorded in Erding and Freising.
Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU), who defends the end of the free tests, appeals to all unvaccinated people to get vaccinated.
"The way out of the pandemic is vaccination, not testing."