New coronavirus strategy City of Bonn doesn’t have plan yet for rapid testing for all
Bonn · Free rapid tests are suppose to be part of the plan for easing up on coronavirus restrictions. This was announced by German Health Minister Jens Spahn. In Bonn, there are no concrete plans yet, but there is an idea of who could carry out the free testing.
In mid-February, German Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) announced that there would be free rapid tests starting in early March, which the municipalities would be responsible for organizing. Almost two weeks later, the city of Bonn still has no further information from the federal and state governments, according to city spokeswoman Monika Hörig. There is no new test provision from the federal ministry yet, she said. A conference call between health department officials and state Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann on Feb. 22 also failed to yield any insights, Hörig said Friday.
Collaboration with commercial suppliers
Spahn's new testing strategy did not receive approval in the Corona Cabinet earlier this week. The issue has now been postponed until the next federal-state negotiations on March 3. Should the free Covid-19 tests become available, it is at least clear in Bonn as to who could carry them out. "Here, one would probably have to resort to commercial providers. The capacities of the Diagnostics Center are not sufficient for this," Hörig said.
And how long will it take to prepare for the testing? "It could go quite quickly if commercial providers are used," Hörig said. The first inquiries from private testing centers have already been received by the health department, she said.
