Exclusive
As of: December 8th, 2021 6:02 a.m.
Ministries warn that corona test certificates issued online, such as those offered by the “Test-Express” portal, are invalid in the workplace. Managing directors and medical director are increasingly entangled in contradictions.
That Federal Ministry of Health and the NRW Ministry of Health warn against the use of Coronatest certificates in the workplace, which were issued using digital test procedures. Digital observations during self-tests did not meet the necessary requirements, it is said to justify.
The use of such test certificates in legal transactions, for example for access controls according to the Corona Protection Ordinance, even represents an administrative offense that can be punished with a fine, warns the Ministry in Düsseldorf.
Nevertheless, “Test-Express”, a provider of such certificates, continues to claim on its homepage:
Yes, our test certificates also apply to the new 3G rules in the workplace. (…) our specialists supervise tests under the delegation of the doctor Dr. med. Sebastian and document the result. However, the doctor will issue the test certificates and perform spot checks to ensure that the supervision of the tests is being carried out correctly.
It also says:
That means your employer, the school management and the health department must recognize these certificates, because they correspond to the current German jurisprudence!
Several inquiries to Markus Bönig – the managing director of CliniGo GmbH, which is behind the portal – which court judgments this statement is based on, remained unanswered. However, the text on the homepage has now been changed:
That means your employer, the school management and also the health department have to recognize these certificates, because they correspond to the current German legal situation!
The managing director and medical director contradict each other
The same doctor Rudolf Sebastian, who according to “Test-Express” issues the certificates, had opposite tagesschau.de claims not to work for Test-Express at all: “I am definitely not the person responsible for the test. I also refuse to accept responsibility for carrying out the tests, as I have no influence whatsoever on the procedure, “said the doctor, who runs a plastic surgery practice in Nuremberg.
Legal threats
Multiple requests from Tagesschau.de to Bönig as to whether this was the truth, he initially left unanswered. In the meantime, however, the managing director tried to prevent Sebastian’s allegations from being spread further: These were “blatantly untrue, extremely honorable and damaging to business,” he said tagesschau.de report through his lawyer.
Nevertheless, CliniGo does not want to take legal action against Sebastian’s statements. However, one will against the NDR Take legal action because of Sebastian’s statements in the reporting tagesschau.de were quoted.
CliniGo insists on legality
Incidentally, it remains with the admission of his client “that the business model operated by her under www.test-express.de is legally permissible”, explained the lawyer. Inquiries as to whether CliniGo GmbH might take on the possible criminal and civil law consequences as well as loss of wages of its customers if the certificates issued via “Test-Express” are not recognized were ignored.
“Damage to business” in a position of trust
In response to new inquiries from tagesschau.de To Sebastian, how he would react to the allegations of his alleged client, the doctor initially announced a statement, which, however, did not materialize. Managing director Bönig did not respond to multiple inquiries as to why he continued to entrust the supervision of his tests to a doctor whom he accused of lying.
Positive corona tests are also recognized
The extent to which Sebastian fulfills his duty of supervision is questionable: The “specialists” at “Test-Express” now have to upload a picture of the quick test carried out in order to receive the certificate. When trying tagesschau.de However, these were also issued if you used a blank picture or even a photo of a positive test. Both Sebastian and Bönig answered inquiries from tagesschau.dehow this is possible, no.
Payment service provider terminates the contract after breach
The certificates have meanwhile been paid for via a provider who uses the Google Pay system. However, this violates Google’s terms and conditions, according to which no health services can be billed, unless the providers are licensed or monitored for this by a national authority. This is not the case with “Test-Express”, which the portal expressly points out on its homepage:
We are not a test center operator, but rather an online platform that technically connects specialists, test subjects and doctors. No approval is required for this, and no examination is required.
“Test-Express” makes maintenance work at the service provider responsible for the fact that no billing is possible at the moment. However, he terminated the collaboration with the portal due to breaches of contract.
In the meantime, the billing service provider has removed “Test-Express” from its system. “If we are made aware of a violation of our Google Pay guidelines, we take immediate action,” said a Google spokeswoman tagesschau.de. On the other hand, the “Test-Express” portal said:
Credit purchases are currently suspended for a short time due to maintenance work at our payment provider. That will be possible again shortly. We have to ask you for a little patience.
Inquiries to Bönig how these contradicting statements could be explained also received no response.