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COVID-19 RULES

Germany to scrap €3 Covid tests

From Saturday, the German government will no longer finance €3 Covid tests. In certain cases, however, free tests will continue to be available.

Published: 22 November 2022 12:25 CET

An employee in a Covid testing center poses with a test stick for Covid rapid testing.

An employee in a Covid testing center poses with a test stick for Covid rapid testing. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Wolfgang Kumm

In Germany, the 7-day Covid incidence – the number of new infections per 100,000 residents over seven days – has been falling steadily for weeks. As of Tuesday, the 7-day incidence was 183.2, compared to 227.4 a week ago and 566.5 a month ago.

Accordingly, a new draft testing regulation, which will apply from Saturday, means that Covid tests for €3 will be dropped, while in certain cases, free tests will continue to be available until the end of February.

READ ALSO: What should I do if I get Covid in Germany?

Until now, people who were attending an event or visiting an elderly relative or had a red Corona warning app could get an official test for €3.

As well as declining infection rates, the Federal Ministry of Health has said that the reason for dropping the €3 tests is also due to a lack of people taking up the offer. Overall, federal spending is expected to fall, in part by reducing the payment to testing centres.

Free Covid testing until the end of February

Free rapid antigen tests will continue to be available in certain cases – including for those visiting old people’s and nursing homes and for those who have to go into hospital.

The same applies to people with disabilities and their caregivers and the test will also remain free for those wanting to leave isolation after being infected with Covid.

READ ALSO: German doctors say Covid testing is too ‘expensive and bureaucratic’

The vaccination requirement for staff in hospitals and nursing homes is also set to expire at the end of the year.

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Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

The remaining restrictions – or the requirement to wear a mask in surgeries, clinics and nursing homes – are falling away a couple of days after German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made an announcement that the Covid-19 pandemic is “over.”

“We have successfully managed the pandemic in Germany,” said Lauterbach at a press conference on Wednesday.

In light of low infection numbers and virus variants deemed to be less dangerous, Germany has been steadily peeling away the last of its longstanding measures.

READ ALSO: Germany monitoring new Covid variant closely, says Health Minister

The obligation to wear a mask on public transport was lifted on February 2nd.

During the height of the pandemic between 2020 and 2021, Germany introduced its strictest measures, which saw the closure of public institutions including schools and daycare centres (Kitas).

“The strategy of coping with the crisis had been successful overall,” said Lauterbach, while also admitting: “I don’t believe that the long school closures were entirely necessary.”

Since the first coronavirus cases in Germany were detected in January 2020, there have been over 38 million reported cases of the virus, and 171,272 people who died from or with the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

Voluntary measures

In surgeries and clinics, mask rules can remain in place on a voluntary basis – which some facilities said they would consider based on their individual situations.

“Of course, practices can stipulate a further obligation to wear masks as part of their house rules, and likewise everyone can continue to wear a mask voluntarily,” the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, told DPA.

But Gassen said it was good there would no longer be an “automatic obligation”, and that individuals could take the responsibility of protecting themselves and others into their own hands.

READ ALSO: Is the pandemic over in Germany?

“Hospitals are used to establishing hygiene measures to protect their patients, even independently of the coronavirus,” the head of the German Hospital Association (DKG), Gerald Gaß, told DPA.

With the end of the last statutory Covid measures, he said, we are entering “a new phase” in dealing with this illness.

“Hospitals will then decide individually according to the respective situation which measures they will take,” he said, for example based on the ages and illnesses of the patients being treated.

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