New rules from Friday, but many questions still unanswered: will corona tests remain free in Bavaria?
Created: 06/29/2022, 06:52
By: Katrin Woitsch
New rules will apply to corona tests in Bavaria from July.
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
From Friday, corona tests will no longer be free for everyone.
Many test center operators are trying to prepare for the new rules.
But for that they would have to know the details.
And the federal government has not yet published them.
Munich – Sohrab Taheri-Sohi has to answer many questions these days.
And he would be grateful if he had the answers.
But the BRK spokesman is like all operators of corona test stations: They are impatiently waiting for the new coronavirus test regulation to be formulated.
The old one expires on Thursday.
New rules apply from July.
All that is known so far is that the citizen tests will no longer be free for everyone.
Many details are open - and they are relevant for the operators to be able to prepare for the coming days.
Corona virus: BRK spokesman fears a high number of unreported cases
The Bavarian Red Cross was the largest operator of corona test stations in Bavaria - some are operated independently, some on behalf of the municipalities.
"The supply has already been reduced to a minimum due to demand," reports Taheri-Sohi.
In mid-March, 100,000 people were tested in the BRK centers every week, and now it's around 20,000 a week.
This is also due to the fact that a negative corona test no longer has to be submitted almost anywhere - the 3G rules still applied in March.
At the same time, the number of infections is increasing.
Nobody knows how many people are actually infected with Corona.
And Taheri-Sohi fears that the number of unreported cases will be even greater if testing costs three euros.
It is not the end of the mask requirement in public transport, which the Bavarian cabinet decided on Tuesday. But the FFP2 mask is no longer mandatory.
Do corona tests remain free in Bavaria?
It is still unclear whether Bavaria will take over this citizen share.
The federal government had left this up to the states.
A spokesman for the Bavarian Ministry of Health emphasizes that the test regulation will be awaited.
In any case, the tests remain free for vulnerable groups: children under the age of five, pregnant women, people who cannot be vaccinated, and visitors to nursing homes, clinics or facilities for the disabled.
The BRK does not yet know how this will be handled in the future.
"It would be conceivable that the nursing homes would have to issue visit cards," says Taheri-Sohi.
Or the Infection Protection Ordinance will also be changed and tests will no longer be required for home visits.
Even the Ministry of Health only knows that proof is required to get a free test.
"After all, Karl Lauterbach announced a form," says the spokesman.
Countries and test center operators are still waiting for this.
Corona citizen tests for everyone should cost three euros in the future
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Coronavirus: Autumn could be more unpredictable than last year
In autumn, the federal government made the tests for all unvaccinated persons subject to a fee.
At that time, the number of infections rose rapidly, so that the regulation changed again after a few weeks.
Taheri-Sohi fears this could happen again.
"Of course we can then start up again," he says.
"But it's getting harder than ever to recruit staff." For him, autumn this year is even more unpredictable than last year.
"We have long called for a far-sighted pandemic plan for the fall," he says.
The new test regulation feels more like a trip into the past.
to old mistakes.