This is the plan for the massive tests in Vorarlberg – Coronavirus –

The Vorarlberg state government presented the first specific organizational plans for the upcoming mass corona tests on Tuesday night. To test as many citizens as possible, 80 test stations will be established across the state, each of which will conduct up to 1,000 tests per day. Three days are planned to test the population and the date should be before Christmas if possible. In positive cases there will be contact tracing.

Governor Markus Wallner and Security Minister Christian Gantner (both ÖVP) announced this at an online press conference after a two-hour meeting with actors such as the military, the Red Cross and the Directorate of Education. Wallner said the conception was based on the experiences of South Tyrol. The governor had called his colleague from South Tyrol Arno Kompatscher on Monday.

The location of the test stations (elementary school gyms are being discussed) is still being worked out, but each should have a catchment area of ​​5,000 people. The test station staff, 20 each, is comprised of eight employees provided by the Red Cross for testing, eight firefighters for security services, and four community employees for organizational matters. The armed forces will equip the test stations with everything necessary and should be open from 7 am to 5 pm

Citizens will be able to register online for testing with an antigen test, but also by phone. Test results are sent by SMS within one hour. If the test is positive, a PCR test should be performed to confirm it. Affected individuals can come to “their” test station for the PCR test the same day (after 5 pm).

Wallner thought the idea of ​​mass testing was a good one. “It offers the possibility of taking stock of the active contagion process in the country,” said the governor. In this way, it might be possible to find as many corona-infected people as possible and quickly isolate them. “Everyone can make a contribution,” he asked the population to participate in the voluntary tests. While for the educational staff (12,000 people in Vorarlberg) and for the police (1,200 people) the 5th / 6th and 7th December are being discussed as trial days, Wallner and Gantner did not want to commit to testing the population ( 400,000 people). “Everything that is in the past is good,” Wallner said, not entirely satisfied with the proposal last weekend before Christmas.

As Gantner emphasized, contact tracing is also carried out in Vorarlberg in all positive cases. “We can do that because our processes are already highly digitized,” he said. In South Tyrol, turnout in the mass test was 70 percent. Wallner and Gantner were convinced that this quota could be met at Vorarlberg. In South Tyrol, the proportion of positive tests was around one percent. Wallner and Gantner hoped that there could be a similar result in Vorarlberg.

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