That backfired: Markus Söder wanted to have it tested on a large scale in his federal state and thus be a role model for Germany. But hundreds of people infected with corona were not informed. How it came about.
It is a huge bankruptcy for the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) who likes to be a great carer in the Corona-Krise staged. Somewhere in Germany More than 1,000 people were on the road by Thursday who were demonstrably using the Coronavirus are infected but have not been informed of this for up to two weeks. The from Bayern Not only at airports and train stations, but also at the motorway crossings to Austria, test centers that had sprung up in no time at all were hopelessly overloaded at first, the volunteers were not adequately trained, the technical infrastructure was overwhelmed or even non-existent. The result: a shambles everywhere.
How did the breakdown come about?
There are several reasons. The political wish of the Bavarian state government around Söder to test holiday returnees as comprehensively as possible was hastily implemented. The Bavarian Red Cross complained days ago that the “actually good idea” deserved a few more days of preparation time. In addition, the authorities in Bavaria and the laboratories involved were virtually overwhelmed by a flood of voluntary tests – a total of more than 60,000 at motorways, train stations and airports. That is much more than expected. “We all together certainly made the mistake of underestimating the number of tests that were carried out there,” said the President of the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL), Professor Andreas Zapf.
Why did Bavaria set up the test centers?
Bavaria was a pioneer nationwide in setting up test centers for holiday returnees – Söder referred several times to the fact that Bavaria is also a service provider for other federal states on this issue, namely when returnees crossed Bavaria to go home. Bavaria’s motorways are the main routes to many holiday destinations such as Austria and Italy, but also for immigrants on home leave in their countries of origin, for example in the Balkans – and there are risk areas there.
Söder has been warning of a second wave of corona infections for a long time and considers those returning from vacation to be a particular risk. That’s why he really wanted to increase the test capacity. It is still unclear why this was no longer prepared for the summer vacation date, which was foreseeable well in advance.
What exactly is the problem?
While it apparently ran relatively smoothly at the airports and in some cases also at the train stations, the problems occurred primarily at the three motorway test centers Donautal-Ost, Inntal-Ost and Hochfelln. There the travelers had to fill out a test application by hand, then a smear was taken. They received a QR code that they could read into their warning app and should get the result that way.
The laboratory involved had great problems digitizing the flood of handwritten applications – even with increased staff. The test results were available, but due to the lack of digitization, it was difficult to assign them to the people concerned. The handwritten applications were “partly easy to read, partly difficult to read,” said Zapf. Some would have only entered a code word and now hoped to find out a result.
How big is the risk that those who tested positive have infected other people?
The danger is very great – the only question is: how many? The follow-up of those affected and their contact persons via the health authorities has not yet taken place. Whether the more than 1,000 people mentioned are people who have spent most of the past few days at home with their families, or people who have socialized, perhaps used buses and trains, at celebrations have participated or have come into contact with other people professionally – this is simply not known. In quarantine only need holidaymakers who come from risk areas.
Is it conceivable that there will be more people returning to travel who are virus carriers?
Yes, absolutely. Not all returnees have had themselves tested in Bavaria, and in other federal states there are only a few voluntary tests for people from non-risk areas. Therefore, the number of those who are infected and do not know anything about it is likely to be significantly higher – with the corresponding consequence of a significantly increased risk of infection. In addition, the tests go on constantly.
What will Bavaria do better from now on?
All eight test centers have been in the hands of professional service providers since Thursday at the latest. You digitize the incoming test applications with the personal data of the tested – this should make the transmission much faster. Minister of Health Melanie Huml said in the afternoon that 908 of the more than 1,000 positive tests had been identified. They’d been informed gradually since that morning. In the case of test results that have not yet been assigned, a check is also made to determine whether there are duplicates. In order to deal with the traffic jam, the State Office for Health and Food Safety was increased by 100 people. President Zapf was transferred to the Ministry of Health.
Is Söder now changing the strategy?
No. On the contrary. In addition to the eight mobile test centers for holiday returnees, further municipal test stations are to be built in each district. This also in order to relieve general practitioners. The supervision moves to the Ministry of the Interior, there are more capacities and it is closer to the municipalities, argued Söder. As much as possible should be tested.
Bavaria wants to be able to test a large part of the population within a month, if necessary. A first test should, if possible, be followed by a second test within a few days in order to increase safety. “The corona virus is really nasty,” said Söder.
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