Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
In a confidential strategy paper from the Ministry of the Interior, experts go through various scenarios of the pandemic. As a result, they are pushing for "efficient testing and isolation".
By Markus Grill and Georg Mascolo NDR / WDR
In the fight against the coronavirus, the Federal Ministry of the Interior is guided by the example of South Korea: the Asian country was able to use mass tests and isolating the sick to greatly slow down the spread of the pathogen without bringing public life to a standstill. The largest possible increase in test capacities in Germany is therefore "overdue", according to information from WDR , NDR and "S?ddeutscher Zeitung" in a confidential strategy paper from the Ministry of the Interior entitled "How we can get Covid-19 under control".
The government must work towards a scenario called "quick control" to avert worse consequences for health, the economy and society. By far the most important measure against the virus, according to the experts, is "testing and isolating the infected person". "Both people with self-suspicion as well as the entire circle of contact persons from positively tested people should be tested". This does not correspond to current practice in Germany, where according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) only people who show symptoms and have had contact with infected people or who belong to a risk group should be tested .
Boost test capacities quickly
The authors of the Interior Ministry paper recommend that the test capacity in Germany should be started up "very quickly". So they run through a scenario in which the test capacities are to be gradually increased to 200,000 tests a day by the end of April. According to Health Minister Jens Spahn, 300,000 to 500,000 coronavirus tests are currently possible per week. A worst-case scenario can only be averted with significantly increased testing and consistent isolation of infected people, according to the conclusion.
The previous method according to the motto "We are testing to confirm the situation" must therefore be replaced by the approach "We are testing to get to the situation". In this regard, South Korea is an "impressive" role model. Unlike China, for example, South Korea has not issued a general exit ban. Innovative solutions are required for broad-based tests, the strategy paper says.
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By Markus Grill and Georg Mascolo NDR / WDR
In the fight against the coronavirus, the Federal Ministry of the Interior is guided by the example of South Korea: the Asian country was able to use mass tests and isolating the sick to greatly slow down the spread of the pathogen without bringing public life to a standstill. The largest possible increase in test capacities in Germany is therefore "overdue", according to information from WDR , NDR and "S?ddeutscher Zeitung" in a confidential strategy paper from the Ministry of the Interior entitled "How we can get Covid-19 under control".
The government must work towards a scenario called "quick control" to avert worse consequences for health, the economy and society. By far the most important measure against the virus, according to the experts, is "testing and isolating the infected person". "Both people with self-suspicion as well as the entire circle of contact persons from positively tested people should be tested". This does not correspond to current practice in Germany, where according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) only people who show symptoms and have had contact with infected people or who belong to a risk group should be tested .
Boost test capacities quickly
The authors of the Interior Ministry paper recommend that the test capacity in Germany should be started up "very quickly". So they run through a scenario in which the test capacities are to be gradually increased to 200,000 tests a day by the end of April. According to Health Minister Jens Spahn, 300,000 to 500,000 coronavirus tests are currently possible per week. A worst-case scenario can only be averted with significantly increased testing and consistent isolation of infected people, according to the conclusion.
The previous method according to the motto "We are testing to confirm the situation" must therefore be replaced by the approach "We are testing to get to the situation". In this regard, South Korea is an "impressive" role model. Unlike China, for example, South Korea has not issued a general exit ban. Innovative solutions are required for broad-based tests, the strategy paper says.
READ MORE
