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According to Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens), the tests should be carried out in several rounds. “One thing is clear: for the tests to be epidemiologically meaningful, they must be repeated at the beginning of the new year. They must also be low-threshold, freely accessible and on a voluntary basis, ”he explained. Samples will only be collected by medically trained personnel.
The Ministry of Defense is responsible for logistical and organizational management. Paramedics are also called in to perform the tests. In general, the armed forces will support the execution of the mass tests with several thousand soldiers, according to the office of Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP).
But can the government’s plan to save Christmas with massive testing really work? In other words: can it be done so quickly? After all, Austria is the largest of the countries that have carried out such massive tests so far. Some scientists have already raised concerns about it. Professor Marc Reimann, a logistics researcher at the University of Graz, has calculated whether it is possible to test all Austrians in one month. “With current capabilities, testing would take up to ten months. If the available resources are doubled, less, but still four to six months, ”he explains.
