Munich (dpa/lby) - The around 150 corona test centers of the district administration authorities should remain in place at least until the end of the year. The cabinet decided on Tuesday. The same applies to government mobile test tracks. In addition, the municipal test centers are to be supplemented by further decentralized mobile teams after the summer holidays. Together with the test centers of private providers, pharmacies, doctors and rescue services, a dense, nationwide network of around 2,600 test centers is available, according to the State Chancellery.
In addition, particularly vulnerable groups should be better protected. For this purpose, preventive PCR pool tests are to be made possible in old people’s and nursing homes from autumn. With this voluntary additional offer to the usual quick tests, one builds on the very good experiences with the pool tests for schools, it said. This would allow infections to be detected even earlier and the spread of the virus in the facilities to be avoided even more efficiently.
"The protection of people who are particularly at risk from the corona virus is and remains a core goal of our test strategy," said Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU). The facilities could offer residents and employees tests twice a week – the Free State would bear the costs. Around 17 million euros from the Corona Pandemic special fund are to be made available for September to December. "We don't know which variant we will be dealing with in the autumn. That's why it's important that we take preventive measures," he emphasized.
There are no plans to make mandatory tests again in schools and day-care centres. However, schools and day-care centers can offer self-tests from their supplies for voluntary tests at the beginning of the school year, or they can request them from the municipalities or the pandemic central warehouse.
"The experts agree on one thing: there will be a seasonal increase in corona infections in autumn and winter," said Holetschek. "Since the numbers are already higher in the summer months than in previous years, we have to prepare more than ever for the autumn and winter wave." The test strategy is based on this.
