The FDP district councilors apparently already suspected before the meeting of the district committee on Monday afternoon that they would not be able to assert themselves with their request that the district provide free PCR corona tests for the population. The response from the administration was correspondingly negative, mainly because of the expected costs of up to four million euros per week with a possible tenfold increase in PCR tests. This moved the Free Democrats to modify their concerns significantly: They moved away from the demand that the tests be free of charge, instead only demanded a subsidy from the district and underlined the need, against the background of the infection, to clearly not only vaccinate but also test capacities to expand.
“Just vaccinating is not enough, people who have already been vaccinated are becoming increasingly infected,” said Grünwalder FDP district councilor Michael Ritz at the meeting, who even described a case in which a person who had already been boosted was infected. It also makes economic sense “to invest more in prevention than to accept consequential damage,” he said. One shouldn’t hide behind the high costs, after all it is “about the well-being of the rural population”. In the event that one does not want to offer cheaper possibilities for PCR tests oneself, one must at least ask the state to do so.
“We don’t have enough laboratory capacities, the existing ones are being pushed to the limit by vulnerable groups and pool tests in schools.”
District Administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) took a different point of view. “The crucial question is whether the district has to step in here. No, I don’t see our duty here,” he said, referring above all to the overloading of the test laboratories. He received support from Jörg Spennemann, Head of Infrastructure and Health in the District Office: “We do not have enough laboratory capacities, the existing ones are being attacked by vulnerable groups and pool tests in the schools.” According to Spennemann, a significant delay in the results would have to be expected with a PCR test offensive: “We would disappoint those people who expect quick results in a timely manner,” he said. That is why he would also advise against increasing the pressure on the state, because the state might also join the initiative, “but neither would it found any new laboratories.”
Ultimately, apart from the Liberal Ritz, all the other committee members spoke out against subsidizing PCR tests and expanding the test infrastructure. However, one will meet another concern of the FDP and examine whether one should offer clearer information about test possibilities on the homepage of the district.