After the latest corona wave has subsided, many of the almost 500 test stations in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania could soon close. Health Minister Drese sees this with concern.
Schwerin (dpa/mv) – The Schwerin Ministry of Health expects a decrease in the number of corona test stations in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from July. At the end of June, the current federal test regulation, which also regulates financial accounting, will expire, said a spokesman for Minister Stefanie Drese (SPD) at the request of the German Press Agency.
The mostly private test infrastructure in the federal states and thus also in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is based on this regulation – both for PCR tests and for the antigen rapid tests. After their elimination, only a few locations would probably remain, for example at individual hospitals or nursing homes.
Drese called for “financially viable framework conditions” from the federal government in order to maintain a basic range of test options. After all, employees in hospitals and in nursing, for example, would have to submit a negative test after surviving a corona infection in order to be able to go back to work. A basic offer is also important with a view to a possible new corona wave in autumn. According to the ministry, there are currently 485 test options in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.