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FFor residents of Berlin, Bremen, Hamm, Remscheid and other German crown hot spots who wanted to start their autumn holidays in the Baltic Sea or the Bavarian Alps in the coming weeks, the news came as a shock: after the decision to Chancellor Helge Braun’s conference call and the heads of state and Senate chancelleries of the federal states are now to some extent undesirable people.
As soon as the federal states have implemented the resolution, residents of risk areas within Germany will be prohibited from staying. “The federal and state governments urge all citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to and from areas that exceed the limit of 50 new infections per 100,000 residents in the past seven days,” he says.
Are there exceptions to this rule?
Yes. With a negative Corona test, hotspot residents can “buy their way out” of the accommodation ban. The test should not be more than 48 hours. “The moment in which the test result is determined is decisive for the start of the 48-hour period,” says the decision.
However, containment of the infection process and tests in the health system, as well as the maintenance of the educational system and internal security, have priority. In this sense, these free travel tests can only be performed if regional testing capabilities also allow it, ”according to the decision.
Do all federal states want to adhere to it?
No. Thuringia, Berlin and Bremen currently do not want to issue any accommodation bans, Lower Saxony is still checking. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania wants to keep its rule even stricter. Consequently, you can enter with a negative corona test, but you still have to go into a 14-day quarantine. It can only be shortened with a retest after five to seven days. A regulation that basically makes a short vacation impossible.
Berliners, who start next week in the fall holidays and who like to take a short trip to the Baltic Sea, will probably be particularly affected. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is based on the seven-day incidence for all of Berlin, not on individual hotspot districts. On Thursday, Berlin passed the 50 mark as a complete city.
What are the rules for testing?
Regulation at the national level is simple: Only people who have symptoms or for whom a test has been ordered by the health department can be done at the expense of health insurance companies. If you want to do a test without symptoms, you need to pay for it yourself, and first find a test site that takes the smear and sends the sample to a lab. Only in Bavaria can you get tested for a Covid infection for free at any time and without symptoms. The Free State pays. If you want to take the test in Munich, for example, you can make an appointment at www.corona-testung.de.
In many places, however, it will be difficult to obtain a Corona test, even if you are willing to pay for it yourself. In Berlin, only test centers are listed on the Senate website, where only people with relevant corona symptoms can be tested. The Senate’s own Crown Holtline only refers to a list of compromising practices. “However, the practices are not required to test people without symptoms, but can offer this service on a voluntary basis,” says the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.
How many test capacities are left?
According to an assessment by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the number of possible tests was not yet exhausted last week: almost 1.1 million tests were compared with a total capacity of all laboratories of about 1.5 million in the week 40. With the increasing number of infections, processing times have also increased, writes the RKI in its management report.
Therefore, he is in favor of prioritizing testing so that primarily people with symptoms should be certain first. According to an assessment by the Association of Accredited Medical Laboratories (ALS), the usability of laboratories nationwide is 79 percent; in Berlin, 54,000 of the 54,600 possible tests are operating at capacity.
What options do you have as your own payer?
Many cities have other providers for whom they have no symptoms but still need a test. In Hamburg, for example, you can make an appointment for a test at the German Red Cross. Price: 93 euros. 158 euros must be paid at Quicktest Berlin, one of the few private providers in the capital. Before traveling or visiting family, you can get tested here in a fair parking lot; the result is available within 24 hours. In the meantime, appointments are already booked five days in advance, says managing director Ulrich Bohr.
Schleswig-Holstein wants negative corona tests from vacationers
Several federal states want to require negative corona tests for vacationers from risky areas in the interior of Germany in the future. That’s what Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) said after a change conference of the federal and state governments.
The Centogene company operates test centers at the airports of Hamburg, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, where you can also take the test as a self-payer. The standard test, in which the result is usually obtained within 12 to 24 hours, costs 59 euros. Those who need even faster certainty can opt for the express variant in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. For 139 euros you can usually get the result in six hours.
Internet self-assessments
Self-assessments at home are an alternative for people in regions without nearby testing centers. Centogene offers them, for example, through the mail order company Amazon. A single test here costs 79 euros, and those who want to have up to four people tested at the same time can choose the family version for 189 euros. You can do the throat swab yourself, then a courier collects the sample and takes it to a lab. Once there, it usually takes twelve to 24 hours before you can see the result online. According to a Centogene spokeswoman, authorities and hotels recognize the downloaded doctor’s letter as evidence.
