In a new report, the Court of Audit criticizes the federal testing strategy during the corona pandemic. The different offers from different ministries and states created a variety that made it difficult for the Ministry of Health to monitor and coordinate the total offer. The costs for testing were quite high, at least 5.2 billion euros at the end of 2022.
The report notes that Austria has tested about 16 times more per capita than Germany, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. There are 306 million tests listed, of which 189 million are antigen tests and the rest are PCR tests.
Minister of Health in the picture
The auditors suggest that in the event of future pandemics, federal states should be given clear guidelines based on past experience to ensure a similar approach across Austria. The Minister of Health is accused of not making sufficient use of his coordination capabilities during the corona pandemic and of giving state governors a lot of leeway.
Critique of Mass Testing in the Kurz Era
In the future, according to the Court, population-wide tests would only be offered depending on the epidemiological situation and on the basis of cost-benefit aspects compared to the surveillance programs – keyword wastewater monitoring. The mass test of the entire population, which continued to be carried out under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), is being questioned critically. The participation rate was 23 percent. Only 0.21 percent of the samples were positive.
No overview of the total number of tests
According to the Court of Audit, the Ministry of Health only partially had the data relevant for analyzes during the corona pandemic, because it did not request information from the federal states about the number and type of tests carried out. As a result, the department had no insight into the total number of tests financed by it or the costs per test and type of test.
The Court also wonders why the federal states have each set up their own systems and three other departments, in addition to the Ministry of Health, have also set up their own relevant test structures: “The various test offers were not coordinated,” says the Court. department. Regardless of individual benefit, this variety made it difficult to control and coordinate the total supply.
The Court’s rough report had already been made public in May. Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) had already promised to follow the examiners’ recommendations. At the same time, however, he refused to criticize his predecessors in the rearview mirror.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
