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- Pharmacies can now also carry out corona tests in the canton of Zurich.
- The Zurich Health Directorate initially granted approval to four pilot pharmacies.
- Another 50 pharmacies have signed up for the additional training needed to do so.
- People with no or mild symptoms, such as travelers, should be tested.
It is important that more tests can be carried out, the health department of the Canton of Zurich justifies the measure. “In the current situation, it is important that even mildly symptomatic people can get tested as soon as possible,” says canton doctor Christiane Meier.
We don’t know if testing capabilities will ever be sufficient.
There is a high demand for corona testing: “We are not that quick to set up more testing capabilities and therefore we rely on other partners.” Pharmacies have reached out to them and they are an important component. But one is not sure whether the testing capabilities will suffice. “You will always have to wait a bit for a test,” Meier says.
Pharmacies welcome the move
In fact, the Zurich pharmacies had already announced their willingness to carry out tests a few weeks ago, initially without success. “The canton assumed that the testing capacities were sufficient,” says the president of the Zurich Pharmacy Association, Lorenz Schmid. That assessment has changed. As a result, pharmacists are relieved: “We are very satisfied,” says Schmid. “We were able to start testing in three weeks and found a very quick and professional evaluation and treatment from the health department.”
We see that the demand is great.
Clients who undergo the test are expected to be taken to a separate room, explains Schmid. The test result must be available within a maximum period of 24 hours. The client pays a flat fee of 50 francs for the defamation. If symptoms are already present, the health insurance company pays for the test.
At the moment, four pharmacies meet the necessary conditions, but more will be added soon. In addition to the four selected pharmacies, which employees had trained accordingly, another 50 pharmacies have signed up for additional training, according to the health department statement.
Rush in the pharmacies of Schaffhausen
Zurich is not the first canton to allow pharmacies to carry out corona tests. In the canton of Schaffhausen, three pharmacies received approval from the Schaffhausen Health Department in August. Now they are being invaded:
We have to make sure we don’t exceed our possibilities
“Initially we had 25 tests per week, now there are 140 tests per week,” says the president of the Schaffhausen Pharmacy Association, Patrik Bolliger, and looks to the future with concern: “At the moment, pharmacies still have testing capacity If it’s 200 – 300, we have to see that we don’t exceed our possibilities. ” But they are not that far. All tests would be carried out as safely and carefully as possible.
