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Hanover (dpa / lni) - With more rapid tests, the Lower Saxony state government wants to get the infection rate in old people's and care facilities under control.
While the opposition FDP is even calling for daily corona tests, the facilities are groaning under the personnel burden.
"The nurses are now working over the limit," said the spokesman for the Diakonie in Lower Saxony, Hans-Joachim Lenke.
The country's new Corona regulation has provided for mandatory testing for staff and visitors since last Wednesday.
Employees must therefore do a rapid antigen test for the corona virus two days a week.
Visitors need a negative test result if the facility is in a region with many new infections, i.e. the incidence value is over 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in one week.
For Diakonie board spokesman Lenke it is of course an additional challenge to test visitors.
"We will try to cope with this task, because we want to make it possible for the residents, where it is possible, to get visitors on the holidays," he said.
Test material is now being delivered, but there may still be delivery bottlenecks in isolated cases.
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Lars Wöhler, who runs a nursing home in Burgwedel near Hanover, also speaks of “sensible measures” but a “personal challenge”.
With 140 employees there are 280 tests per week only for the staff.
"Many colleagues are reaching their limits," said Wöhler about a first impression shortly after the regulation came into force.
On the first two days, an average of 200 tests were carried out in his facility.
The Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services (bpa) described the care facilities as overloaded with additional test specifications and recently called for modified visiting regulations.
The extended duties could absolutely not be fulfilled without outside support.
"We expect a huge rush and queues for the tests at Christmas," said Wöhler, who is also a member of the national board of bpa.
Especially for the upcoming festive season, Diakonie board spokesman Lenke keeps an eye on the staff.
Many employees wouldn't have a day off at Christmas, he said.
This is only thanks to the solidarity with the caregivers and deserves great respect.
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While the facilities are reaching their personal limits, the FDP believes that both the carers and residents as well as the visitors should be examined with rapid tests more frequently than before.
"Preferably if it were up to us, every day," said FDP social politician Susanne Schütz at the end of the week.
Even CDU boss Bernd Althusmann does not go far enough with the new regulation for corona tests in old people's and nursing homes.
The economic minister called for the test capacities for employees to be expanded “as much as possible” with rapid tests.
Social Affairs Minister Carola Reimann (SPD) rejected the request.
According to her, the test strategy of the new regulation enables a “high and at the same time proportionate degree of protection”.