Kretschmann on tests: Overview could be lost

Created: 01/25/2022, 14:12

Winfried Kretschmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg.

© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa

Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann fears that the authorities in Germany are losing track of the pandemic situation due to the lack of more accurate PCR tests.

If you largely do without PCR tests in the future to prove an infection, the reporting system must also be adapted urgently, said the Green Party on Tuesday in Stuttgart.

Stuttgart - He would have liked it if the federal government had already put this adjustment on the table at the Prime Ministers' Conference on Monday. This must now be made up for "as soon as possible". "Otherwise we'll lose track of what's happening in the pandemic," warned Kretschmann.

Due to the rapid spread of the omicron virus variant, there are bottlenecks in the PCR tests in Germany.

The federal and state governments have therefore decided that PCR tests should in future be concentrated on staff in hospitals, practices and care.

Baden-Württemberg's Social Affairs Minister Manne Lucha (Greens) considers this change to be responsible.

For the rest of the population, this means that after a positive antigen rapid test, you should do a second rapid test, but it should be from a different provider.

The prerequisite, however, is that you have no symptoms, Lucha restricted.

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The change will then also apply to schoolchildren who previously had to do a PCR test after a positive rapid test.

“As of today, that will no longer exist,” said the minister.

But he is confident that you will still get the “necessary results”.

"We use highly sensitive rapid antigen tests." They also give a "good picture" of the pandemic situation.

However, one is still waiting for the federal government to submit the new test strategy.

dpa