Are PCR tests prioritized?
The federal and state governments are refraining from any significant tightening
01/24/2022, 08:13 am
The heads of government of the federal and state governments are discussing the corona situation – but are unlikely to decide on tightening or easing. But questions remain, for example about the PCR tests or an opening perspective after the omicron wave.
In view of the constantly new record numbers of corona infections, the Prime Ministers want to consult with Chancellor Olaf Scholz again today. Before that, however, there were no signs of any significant tightening or fundamental easing of the protective measures. It was therefore expected that the measures already in place for contacts and events would be confirmed.
Nevertheless, numerous open questions have to be discussed at the video conference of the federal and state governments. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach from the SPD wants a decision to be made on prioritizing PCR tests. Since laboratory capacities are becoming tighter due to the spread of the omicron variant, Lauterbach wants to keep these particularly precise tests available primarily for employees in sensitive healthcare facilities.
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, defended the planned prioritization of PCR tests for certain groups. With the current high number of cases, you have to “keep a little budget with the capacities,” he told the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. It is a “wise prioritization for healthcare workers and for particularly vulnerable people”. Wüst does not see a failure in the provision of test capacities. These have recently been expanded. Germany has “relyed heavily on nationwide rapid tests”, and these also have a sensitivity of up to one hundred percent in infectious people, said Wüst.
Lauterbach also advocated talking about possible opening prospects today. “If the number of cases goes down again, and that is to be expected when we are over this wave, then of course the restrictions cannot remain,” he said on ZDF. Then openings would be possible step by step. “It’s right to consider that now.” According to an initial draft resolution for the federal-state meeting, an opening prospect is possible if the hospitals are not overloaded or the critical infrastructure fails.
Questions and unsolved problems have also been left behind by the scientifically recommended sudden reduction in the length of time one is considered recovered – namely from six months to 90 days. It is still unclear how the change in the apps for displaying the vaccination certificates will be implemented technically.
Bottlenecks in infrastructure feared
In view of the exploding number of infections, the performance of the Corona-Warn-App is increasingly being questioned. NRW Minister of Health Karl-Josef Laumann from the CDU has asked the federal government to quickly develop the official warning app. A solution is needed that provides information at a glance as to whether someone is fully immunized or not – in all federal states.
NRW is currently chairing the Prime Ministers’ Conference (MPK). In the run-up to the meeting, Prime Minister Wüst from the CDU is pushing for the speedy introduction of compulsory vaccination. The vaccination rate for older people in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, is already very high, said Wüst in Düsseldorf. That’s why it’s important “to start where we’re not so heavily vaccinated. For me, vaccination would be compulsory from the age of 18.” Austria has already decided to make vaccination mandatory. However, such a measure is also controversial among virologists.
It is unclear how specifically the federal-state committee is already advising on a strategy to prepare for hundreds of thousands of new infections every day, which are expected in mid-February. It is feared that high quarantine numbers could result in bottlenecks in the health and education sectors, but also in the areas of transport and logistics.