Germany: Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn will discuss on Monday Morning with other counterparts from other Federal States about reports on massive irregularities in the country testing for COVID-19.
Most centres in Germany report more COVID-19 tests than have actually been done. There was concern about the matter and the prosecutor’s office is also investigating the case after media publications reported about the fraud.
On Friday, the prosecutor’s office in Bochum located in North Rhine-Westpahlia launched an investigation into the fact that the number of antigen tests carried out by rapid test points were overstated.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported last week that Bochum-based MediaCan which runs 54 tests centres in 36 German cities reported several times more tests than it actually did.
In Germany, one can undergo a free coronavirus test once a week. A negative results allows you to enter restaurants, some shops or cultural institutions. Test centres serve to be reimbursed EUR 18 per test.
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The system fails to account for the number of tests carried out against actually proof of testing being documented, making it practically out of control.
According to the newspaper, 1.8 thousand people were operating in North Rhine-Westphalia alone in mid-March and two months later it was 8.7 thousand.
The availability of test centres has risen with testing not being specifically performed by pharmacists and doctors but also hairdressers, gyms and coffee shops. After all this, an online smear sampling course is all that is needed to submit an overwhelmingly successful application to open a test centre.
Spahn said that he can’t control teh testing centres in Berlin arguing that the control over test execution points is exercised by local medical authorities, which should also preventabuse when accounting for test. He also mentioned an increase in ‘random checks’ on twitter.
Source: Sueddeutsche Zeitung