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The mass tests at Bern schools are not mandatory for everyone. Under this new condition, some schools no longer see any point in it.
They are free to either carry out the preventive series tests or to stick with the previously used breakout testing.
Raphael Moser/Tamedia AG
However, the fact that no compulsory test was introduced has prompted some schools to back down.
20mins/Taddeo Cerletti
Schools in Bern have been able to voluntarily carry out repetitive tests since the beginning of the week.
The canton recently announced that the mass tests can be carried out from a participation rate of 80 percent.
Some schools no longer see any point in the broad tests and have therefore called off the exercise.
At the beginning of January, the canton of Bern announced that schools could again voluntarily carry out mass tests if they organized them themselves. If the schools make use of this option, the tests are mandatory for students and all teaching and school staff, it was said at the time. Last Wednesday, however, the canton adjusted the modalities: Repetitive tests can now be carried out if at least 80 percent of the students participate.
This is not good for all schools. Several schools that had already decided to reintroduce the repetitive tests are now backing down, as the “Berner Zeitung” reports. They include the kindergartens and schools in Muri. Headmaster Rolf Rickenbacher no longer sees any added value under the new circumstances. Because even if the 80 percent mark were reached, only every fifth child would undergo a test, says Rickenbach: “That would not have made any sense.” Muri therefore retains breakout testing.
In a letter to the parents, Muri’s school management accuses the canton of unclear communication: “It seems that the general conditions are constantly changing,” it says.
“The decision triggers new uncertainties”
The city also decided on Friday to forego the broad tests for the time being. “The decision of the government council triggers new uncertainties,” says Richard Jakob, head of the city’s schools pandemic team. He would have also considered an obligation to be more sensible.
The canton of Bern is not aware of any guilt and rejects the allegations from Muri. “Muri pushed ahead without waiting for the definitive conditions,” says Gundekar Giebel, spokesman for the health department. The canton conceded from the start that the cantonal Covid ordinance would first have to be adjusted before the mass tests could be legally carried out again. However, Giebel is not entirely satisfied with the specified 80 percent mark either: “The government council made a different decision here than the health department had imagined.”
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