Limited offer – “Krone” signpost through the new corona test chaos

The ordinance for the new April 1 testing regime was available more than 24 hours before it took effect – krone.at reported. It shows that in sensitive environments such as hospitals, nursing homes or kindergartens, unlimited free testing can continue. In addition, there are five PCR and five antigen tests per month, although other tests already purchased in April can be used.

The further details:

Tested for free with no restrictions can continue to be used in healthcare institutions, where residents, employees and visitors can take the test for free. The same goes for facilities for the disabled, hospitals and spas.

Excluded from the restriction are also 24-hour nurses and personal assistants for the disabled. In kindergartens, staff and children can continue to be tested without quotas. The same goes for refugee facilities and rescue workers.

For the schools is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. In the future, Austrian educational institutions should have only one PCR test per week, it was said on Tuesday – krone.at reported.

Symptomatic people keep coming to their tests for free. The scheme does not need to be changed for this. The person responsible is the hotline 1450. However, the federal government does not specify an organizational form. This means you can take the tests for other symptoms as well. For example, if Vienna thought that symptomatic people should be tested via “Alles gargles”, it could be tested there for free.

Anyone who has already bunkered tests, she can still cash in at least in April, but not indefinitely. In addition to the five “new” PCR test kits, five previously purchased can be evaluated for free.

How everything is organized in the respective state, is responsible for this. Vienna has already announced that it will continue to rely on “Everything gargles”. Styria, on the other hand, prefers processing through pharmacies. Most free test streets will close. However, individual communities had signaled in advance that they also wanted to stick to test roads on their own initiative.

The rules apply from the beginning of April to the end of June. A new regulation must be in place by that time at the latest, otherwise the regulation that takes effect now will be changed.

Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) said late Wednesday evening: It is important to maintain the basic characteristics of the test system in order to be well prepared for the fall. Because if a new virus variant makes it necessary, everything could be restarted quickly.

“No time for changes”
Criticism of the federal government for the late regulation has already come from the federal states – especially from Vienna. “We have repeatedly learned bit by bit what the regulations might look like. We have adapted to that. If that doesn’t happen, we won’t have time for changes,” said Viennese SPÖ health councilor Peter Hacker – reported krone.at. Health Minister Rauch admitted that the time horizon was difficult and that the openings in early March should not have been so. occurred, but that the numbers were now falling again.

According to Rauch, a compromise had to be found between countries that wanted to abolish the test system and Vienna, where the system had to be preserved.