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Open beer gardens and museums, filled theaters and cinemas - what sounds like from a bygone era has been possible again in the Baden-Württemberg university town of Tübingen since Tuesday.
The requirement: guests must show a “Tübingen day ticket” before entering.
There is a negative corona rapid test for the same day.
Six test stations are available for this in the city center.
As an alternative, rapid tests are also permitted in the respective facility.
The concepts were developed by the Tübingen emergency doctor Lisa Federle and Mayor Boris Palmer.
In Tübingen, among other things, the DRK district chairwoman, pandemic officer and doctor Lisa Federle is responsible for the test concept
Source: picture alliance / press photo
Municipalities and local companies are now increasingly taking the testing into their own hands - probably by necessity.
Because while the federal and state governments are making slow progress with their large-scale test strategy, the future of the economy depends on the success of those comprehensive tests.
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The Chancellor and the country chiefs will be advised on further opening steps for restaurants, events and hotels next Monday “in the light of the infection situation, taking into account the test strategy that has been started”.
This is what it says in the latest federal-state resolution.
At the beginning of March, the federal government set up a “Test Logistics Task Force”, headed by Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) and Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU).
Obviously not too much has happened.
When asked about the progress, a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Transport recently remained vague.
"A lot has been set in motion", according to an answer from last week.
It is primarily a matter of determining supply and demand and talking to manufacturers.
The aim is to ensure regular operation in schools or in the public sector by means of regular tests.
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However, the task force is not responsible for procuring the tests - the federal states contact the manufacturers directly.
They could have done that months ago: The first rapid tests came on the market in South Korea a year ago and have been widely available since autumn 2020.
Instead, there is criticism for Spahn and Scheuer from the federal states and the opposition.
In addition, the need for tests for gastronomy and other leisure activities cannot really be quantified as companies are still not allowed to open.
Nevertheless, Health Minister Spahn was already certain at the beginning of March: "With the rapid tests, the supply is now exceeding the demand."
So are there a lot of tests available - just not in use where they should be?
"According to the manufacturer, 150 million rapid tests are already on the dump today and can be delivered directly," said a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) last week.
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However, Jens Spahn's house leaves the question of how many tests the countries have called up unanswered.
As of the beginning of March, the federal government had secured at least 800 million rapid tests via declarations of intent and European framework agreements for 2021, the spokeswoman said.
The actual market supply will far exceed this quota.
But it is unclear when these tests will be available where.
A declaration of intent does not guarantee a delivery date - as the federal government had to painfully discover with the vaccines.
In turn, criticism of Spahn continues from the federal states.
Because there is apparently a lack of agreements, the plan "to enable all residents to have a quick test carried out twice a week by the end of June" has not yet worked out.
In the “Extension of the National Test Strategy”, one test per week was reduced.
The task force's purpose is now to help countries “optimize the ordering of tests”.
In practice, this has so far meant that countries can request a “starter package” from the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche - these are the rapid tests that South Korea used a year ago and that are now marketed by Roche.
15 federal states are said to have ordered according to WELT information.
As it became known on Wednesday, the task force also brokered a deal through so-called self-tests or lay tests with Siemens Healthineers.
After negotiations, the federal states can now initially obtain 8.5 million self-tests per week from this manufacturer and 11 million self-tests per week in April.
As the name suggests, they are used by themselves and not by medical personnel.
In addition, the BMG is now looking into "establishing an order platform so that schools and daycare centers can access the rapid tests more easily".
But this is only a "possible option".
While the federal government is still “checking” and “optimizing”, some municipalities have long since acted themselves. In Augustusburg, Saxony, people don't want to wait any longer: hotels, restaurants and museums are to reopen there as part of a “model project”.
As in Tübingen, citizens with a negative test result should receive a digital ticket.
The district has set up a test center for this.
The start was originally planned for Friday.
Only because the incidence of the place has recently risen sharply again, the project is on hold for the time being.
Opposition: "Test strategy is a disaster"
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Entire industries have also offered their support.
"The implementation of events in safe zones with tested and non-infectious participants is one of the keys to resuming operations for the event industry," says Jens Michow, President of the Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry (BDKV), WELT.
From the point of view of the industry, the efforts of the federal and state governments do not go far enough.
Michow suggests that companies that have the necessary rooms, the necessary staff and professional logistics could long be included as test locations.
For example, its organizers with their large halls.
“We have the relevant concepts on our desks ready for implementation,” says Michow.
"It is incomprehensible to us why politicians have not yet responded to our offers of assistance that have been made on numerous occasions and why they have not accepted our offers for talks." One could relieve the federal and state governments of tasks.
The opposition sees a great lack of planning in the government.
"The test strategy of the federal government is a disaster, because it has apparently not yet had any," said FDP health politician Katrin Helling-Plahr WELT.
"And that, although more tests are the prerequisite for the much-awaited openings." In her opinion, a task force for procurement should have been set up weeks ago.
Ideas from science go back much longer: For example, the virologist Alexander Kekulé called for a "national effort" in March 2020 for the procurement of rapid tests.
“The situation is chaotic,” says management consultant Marc Kloepfel.
Germany can learn from its neighboring countries: "In Austria a preventive test system has been established for weeks," says Kloepfel, who had already helped the federal government in spring 2020 with the procurement of masks.
“With a nationwide invitation to tender for tests in December, Austria negotiated lower purchase prices and also prevented a shortage.” He received no response to his offer of advice, which he sent to several ministries and the Chancellery.
Elsewhere, however, Spahn did not seem averse to help from the economy - for example in the catering trade.
He imagines that guests in front of restaurants could do self-tests in small tents “under supervision”.
"Maybe the first drink will be taken in a small group," said Spahn in the federal press conference last week.
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The Minister of Health is apparently relying on the market economy incentives, should companies be allowed to reopen under the appropriate conditions.
“It doesn't have to be regulated by the federal government or the federal states in detail,” said Spahn.
"That will work out."
However, hoteliers and restaurateurs do not see themselves in this role.
"It is the task of politics to provide sufficient vaccination and test capacities," says Ingrid Hartges, General Manager of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association Dehoga, WELT.
“It's not as simple as Jens Spahn imagines it to be.
How is that supposed to work?
A self-test under supervision? ”Asks Hartges.
Many restaurants have no space for it.
"That is not practicable." This could only be a solution on a voluntary basis for hotels and events, says the association's managing director.
Instead, the federal government is not doing its homework.
"It has to be acted now," says Hartges.
In retail, too, it would not be possible without the help of politics.
"Checking every single customer for a negative test result would simply not be feasible in practice," said Stefan Genth, General Manager of the German Trade Association (HDE), WELT.
"The implementation of a test strategy cannot be passed on to retailers alone, it is in the hands of the state." The industry cannot cope with the task of comprehensive tests and mandatory admission control, neither in terms of personnel nor financially, says Genth.
After the month-long lockdown, many traders would already be on the edge of their existence.
In Tübingen, the demand for day tickets is high.
The city administration is currently examining whether and how the opening times of the test stations can be extended.
The centers do not open their doors until 9:30 a.m.
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