What commuters think about the new test center on the border with Poland

Actually, Lukasz Hedrych has no time for a police check at the border. The driver of the Szczecin pizza courier service “Pizzeria dobra” quickly passes his papers and the valid Corona quick test through the cranked car window. Time is money. The pizza in the back of his car is getting cold. The German customers are jostling.

Several times a day he delivers pizzas from the Polish Dobra to customers on the German side, the Pole says quickly and quickly winds up the window after the policeman has given his okay to go on.

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Pizza courier Lukasz Hedrych crossed the border in Linken.
Quelle: Christian Roedel

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Around 3,000 to 4,000 commuters every day

This is what it looks like: The small border traffic on the German-Polish border in Linken. Around 3,000 to 4,000 commuters travel from Poland to Germany or vice versa every day, and children visit their parents across the border. And it should stay that way if the number of infections increases again.

While Hedrych sets off with his courier vehicle to visit his hungry customers in Löcknitz, behind him a crowd gathers for the opening of the first rapid test center initiated by the state on the German-Polish border. A second center is to go into operation on Tuesday in Ahlbeck on the island of Usedom. Poland is about to be declared a high risk area. The incidence over the weekend in the neighboring country was 269.

Country has tightened quarantine regulations

Three days after her controversial appearance in a fashion store in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) appeared again in a crowd.

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Three days after her controversial appearance in a fashion store in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) appeared again in a crowd.
What: E-Mail-OZ-Online

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The border should remain open even under the adverse conditions – and the test centers should contribute to this. “The pandemic is making life difficult for us and we don’t want the pandemic to pull up the old border again,” said Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) in the pouring rain the state initiative in front of a bunch of journalists, local politicians and residents of the border region.

The country has just tightened the quarantine regulation. If Poland becomes a high-risk area, the obligation to test will be reduced from four to two days for commuters.

The test takes one minute, the result comes after 15 minutes

Stanislaw Denis from Poland was the first corona test person from Poland to be tested in the container at the Linken border crossing in the presence of Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD).

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Stanislaw Denis from Poland was the first corona test person from Poland to be tested in the container at the Linken border crossing in the presence of Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD).
Quelle: Christian Rödel

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Stanislaw Denis is someone who crosses the border every day professionally. The psychotherapist lives in Germany and travels to Stettin every day for work. He very much welcomes the fact that a test center is now being built right on the border. Instead of the previous 35 euros, he will only have to pay ten euros per test in the future. The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania bears part of the costs.

Denis is the first customer at the test counter. Samples can be taken from the container window within a minute. The Pole receives the result on his mobile phone after 15 minutes: negative.

How do commuters contribute to the infections?

Within the state government, the project was promoted by Vorpommern State Secretary Patrick Dahlemann (SPD) and State Secretary for Economic Affairs Stefan Rudolph (CDU). It’s about specialists in hospitals and homes, in hotels and restaurants. “We need a cross-border security for skilled workers that is more robust than before,” says Rudolph.

The samples are examined by scientists from the University Medicine Greifswald and are also intended to show the proportion of commuters actually contributing to the spread of the infection. “The evaluation in four weeks will clarify whether the virus can be described as a driver in border mobility or not,” says State Secretary Dahlemann.

Request for free tests

For some cross-border commuters, that doesn’t go far enough. They have come together in the citizens’ initiative “Free Frontier”. Bartosz Marosz demands that if Germany introduces compulsory testing, it will have to bear all of the costs. “Those who earn 1,300 euros find it difficult to pay 40 euros per week.” It would be best to completely abolish the test requirement for those affected by small border traffic. “The tests put a strain on our wallets, our freedom and our health.”

The Polish lawyer Rafal Malujda thinks that the current solution is a good compromise. “For us commuters, the test centers are a huge relief,” he said. “We no longer have to waste a lot of time and money to get tests and to be able to cross the border.” His greatest fear: Germany closes the border with Poland because the infection rates in the neighboring country are increasing.

From Martina Rathke

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