Free coronavirus tests return as Germany grapples with rising numbers

Berlin, Nov. 14 (BUS) – Coronavirus tests will become free for all again on Saturday in Germany, as the country struggles to find a response to the resurgence of the disease that is breaking daily records and threatening its health system with collapse. .

Health officials ended months of free access to coronavirus tests just weeks ago, in an effort to encourage more people to get vaccinated. The German news agency (dpa) reported that the recent sharp rise in the number of cases shocked the country and forced it to use all the weapons in its arsenal in an attempt to detect cases as soon as possible.

On Saturday, Germany’s infectious disease agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), reported 45,081 new cases, which puts an incidence of seven days per 100,000 people at 277.4, a new record in this pandemic. The day before, that number had reached 263.7. A week ago, it was 183.7. A month ago, it was 65.4.

The country also recorded 228 new deaths, up from 142 deaths last Saturday. The rate of intensive care beds occupied by coronavirus patients is now 4.7 per 100,000, although this is smoothed by sharp regional disparities. In December, that rate was 15.5.

The surge in cases in Germany caught on at a difficult moment in political terms, shortly after the national elections. The current government is in caretaker status and the potential next government is still negotiating a three-party labor agreement.

Officials from all sides held a meeting Thursday to formulate a new strategy, but health officials and politicians publicly questioned whether the country could wait that long. RKI has urged people to avoid large gatherings.

The expected next government appears ready to let the current rules on pandemic response expire on November 25 and hopes to replace them with new policies. Members of the centre-right Christian Democrats, who are set to enter the opposition, have questioned the need to take time to make legislative changes to the way the disease is dealt with.

There are also questions about why the pandemic response meeting has been waited until Thursday.

Meanwhile, school associations have sounded alarm bells that it has become impossible to trace contacts when pupils have tested positive during the school day. Similarly, some government hospital networks say they don’t have extra space and don’t see space available in other networks to move patients, because many hospital beds are being taken up by Covid-19 patients.

According to a report by Spiegel magazine, the German army plans to mobilize 12,000 soldiers by Christmas to support clinics and health departments overburdened by the dire situation of the Corona virus.

They are also to help with booster shots and Covid tests in nurseries and hospitals.

Bundeswehr Lieutenant-General Martin Schieles sent a draft proposal to the Defense Ministry on Friday, the report said.

According to the proposal, about 6,000 troops are already scheduled to be mobilized by the end of November.

The Defense Ministry did not officially confirm the news on Saturday.

Acting German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had already instructed the Bundeswehr a few days ago to prepare to intervene in support of the fight against the virus, according to information seen by German news agency dpa.

According to a Spiegel report, Kramp-Karrenbauer is scheduled to attend a meeting between outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s 16 prime ministers on Thursday to discuss measures to combat the country’s sharply increasing rates of coronavirus infection.

Merkel warned on Saturday that “difficult weeks lie ahead.” It urged its citizens to get vaccinated, amid mounting numbers of record-breaking cases that threaten to flood the country’s health care system.

Merkel noted that the situation was almost as bad as a year ago, a time that necessitated a partial lockdown that lasted for several months. However, she noted, this time around, the Germans could get their hands on the vaccines. “We have to benefit, and benefit quickly. I ask you, please participate and try to impress your relatives and friends.”

Looking at the country’s hospital network, Merkel argued that people infected with the virus need the best health care possible. “But this is not possible in the areas most affected by Corona. Stations are full. Patients must be moved to other places, and scheduled operations are cancelled.

“Doctors and caregivers who still remember the last winter of the pandemic very well are on the verge of collapse,” she warned.

MI