Friday 10th September 2021
“This is what it will amount to”
Bouffier wants PCR tests to be compulsory for unvaccinated people
People without a vaccination or who have survived corona disease must continue to participate in life, says Hesse’s Prime Minister Bouffier. But better after an accurate PCR test. Opponents of a PCR test obligation suffer a setback in a court in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier considers the use of PCR tests in certain areas to be appropriate for the corona access regulations for unvaccinated people. People without vaccinations or who have survived corona disease must continue to participate in life, said the CDU politician on Hessischer Rundfunk. “I can’t close the town hall, and I can’t close a lot of other things either. It then has to be tested. And in such a way that we can be sure that such people will not endanger the safety of other people.” Bouffier said there was therefore a lot of argument in favor of requiring PCR tests instead of rapid tests. “We are also coordinating with the other federal states,” said the Prime Minister. “The advantage of a PCR test is that it is much more accurate. I think that’s what it will amount to.”
Meanwhile, the state of Hesse also wants to look at the question of discontinuing quarantine compensation for unvaccinated people – and is in favor of regulations that are as uniform as possible across the country. That said a government spokesman in Wiesbaden. Whether Hesse will no longer pay people without a vaccination for loss of earnings if quarantine is ordered is to be the subject of the Corona cabinet at the beginning of the week. Other federal states such as North Rhine-Westphalia have already announced this.
NRW: defeat for opponents of mandatory PCR tests
In North Rhine-Westphalia, meanwhile, opponents of the PCR test regulations that apply there in discotheques suffered a setback. A court rejected the urgent application of a discotheque operator against the obligation to carry out a PCR test for disco visitors who do not have a corona vaccination and have not recovered from corona. Such a compulsory test was “proportionate”, decided the Higher Administrative Court of the state in Münster.
According to the state’s current Corona Protection Ordinance, non-immunized people with a seven-day incidence of 35 or more are only allowed to visit a discotheque if they have a current negative PCR test. On the other hand, the operator of a large discotheque in Hagen sued. The disco has reduced the maximum number of guests by half and makes access dependent on a rapid antigen test in a corona test center operated by it.
In support of the application, the plaintiff said that the costs and the increased planning effort of a PCR test would prevent around 30 percent of their potential guests from visiting the discotheque. A rapid antigen test is also sufficient.
The operator’s fundamental rights are “not obviously” violated
The Higher Administrative Court did not follow this. The obligation to carry out a PCR test for non-immunized visitors to discotheques does not obviously violate their operators “in their constitutionally protected rights”. The regulation takes into account the fact that the conditions in discotheques can be particularly conducive to infections.
Discotheques are operated in closed rooms with loud music, which at least makes loud speaking indispensable. The court ruled that the minimum distance could not be ensured on the dance floor due to “an alcohol-related disinhibited mood”. PCR tests, which are more sensitive and more accurate compared to a rapid antigen test, are therefore proportionate. The decision is final.
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