Home gargling tests are on the way out
CORONAVIRUS
The PCR home gargle system is currently pending. Funding for the free tests by the federal government will end on March 31st. The Flachgau laboratory Novogenia, which operates the home gargle system in Salzburg, Upper Austria and Lower Austria, is particularly affected.
The lease for the pooling center has already been terminated, and some employees are now threatened. In total, the Novogenia laboratory from Eugendorf has evaluated 3.2 million tests as part of the home gargle initiatives in the federal states of Salzburg, Upper Austria and Lower Austria since autumn. This corresponds to 17 percent of all tests evaluated by Novogenia during the pandemic.
Labor is announced personnel and pooling center
Managing Director Daniel Wallerstorfer explains that the end for Novogenia is economically bearable, but the loss can only be compensated for by the corresponding reduction in staff and the lease for the pooling center, i.e. the additional space for evaluating the samples, has already been terminated.
If, given the current high number of infections, the federal government still needs a test offer beyond March 31, it would have to be announced as soon as possible, says Novogenia Managing Director Wallerstorfer. “Planning security is the big problem here – our pooling center is currently 3,500m2 in size for many people and machines. If we stop all that now, it’s not going to be that quick to build back up and assume that time is probably going to be pushed out here.”
Biotech companies will expand
Regardless of whether the home gargling tests become normal or not, the Flachgau-based biotech company wants to continue to grow. The plan is to construct another building for around ten million euros. The business area is also to be expanded, for example to include the production of food supplements and cosmetics.