Corona hammer – new test strategy in Austria fixed – Corona virus
In the future, the Minister of Health can change the corona test strategy in Austria by ordinance. This clears the way for a new test regime.
The National Council debated changes to the Epidemic Act on Thursday. A key element is a decree authorization for the Minister of Health, which will enable the development of a new COVID-19 testing strategy.
In the course of the plenary debate, the coalition factions introduced further amendments relating to questions of entry regulations and quarantine. The amendment of the epidemic law was decided by the ÖVP and the Greens, taking these supplements into account. The opposition factions were fundamentally dissatisfied and criticized that the change in the test strategy was overdue but still not in sight.
With the votes of the ÖVP, SPÖ and Greens, the COVID-19 Special Purpose Subsidy Act was changed. The federal government is thus granting subsidies for pandemic measures by the federal states until the end of 2022. The FPÖ’s proposal not to pass on COVID-19 vaccines to other countries free of charge due to the high costs met with opposition from the other parliamentary groups.
An initiative by the government factions on the Epidemic Act was supplemented in the Health Committee with an overall amendment to include relevant points and was approved by a majority in the plenary session. This gives the Minister of Health the opportunity to determine by regulation for which purposes, with which test methods and with what frequency screening programs are carried out at the expense of the federal government. He has to reach agreement with the Minister of Finance for this.
Paradigm shift in pandemic development
Another provision that has now been changed in the Epidemics Act relates to applications for compensation for loss of earnings due to an official measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus, such as the closure of the company. The claims could previously be made up to three months after the end of the official measure asserted; it was no longer possible to change the application after this period had expired.
Because in many cases improvement orders were only issued after the end of the corresponding period due to missing data, the provision is now to be changed. In the future, claims submitted in due time should be able to be extended during pending proceedings even after the deadline has expired.
Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein spoke of a paradigm shift in the development of the pandemic due to the appearance of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. Although this virus is more contagious, it is clear that it causes serious illnesses much less frequently. Despite the continued high number of infections, the occupancy of the intensive care units is already lower than at the peak of the spread of the delta variant.
Stable prognosis for intensive care units
The forecasts for the intensive care units are stable and the number of patients in the normal wards is currently falling slightly. The number of reproductions of the virus is currently slightly below factor 1, which means that every infected person no longer infects another. Looking at these numbers, the opening steps are reasonable. Changing the test strategy also makes sense given the current situation. In all areas where tests are still useful, PCR tests will continue to be offered free of charge.
Mückstein also pointed out that the federal government has meanwhile also bought a sufficient quantity of medicines for the treatment of COVID-19 diseases. With it is possible to treat people who cannot be vaccinated in terms of COVID-19 prophylaxis and to protect those with special risk factors from these severe courses in the event of infection.