Corona Tests

At the very beginning of the Coronavirus in Germany....there was a stringent rule followed by doctors with the Coronavirus test available. 

The procedure would work this way.  You would call the doctor and note 'problems' which you felt were the virus.  The doctor would ask questions over symptoms and where you'd been in the last couple of weeks.  Over the phone, this would take roughly three minutes (depending on how talkative you were).  At the end of this....he would yes, maybe you should take the test, and he'd put a digital 'voucher' into the system, then tell you the address of the county testing office.  You would drive up, walk to the door.....knock, and the lady would check your medical insurance card, and then perform the test.  If the doctor felt 'NO', then no test was offered. 

For a number of weeks, that's been the standard throughout Germany.

So it came up in the news today (via an article I saw on N-TV)....Bavaria (the state) has gone to a different version. 

Bavaria will very shortly have an open-end test.  You ask for it....you get it...anytime, within the state.

Is it mandated for people to take the test?  No.

Is it free?  No....it's going to be covered by health insurance, and probably by some degree of funding by the Bavarian state government.  At the beginning of the crisis....the test was around 200-Euro.  Lately, the pricing has gone down....that cost issue isn't part of the discussion anymore.

So will more people take the test?  For people who seem to always have a temperature or cold....maybe it'll be easier to take the test, and quickly disprove they don't have the virus.  More kids to take it?  Maybe. 

Will this prove anything?  That's really a big question with no real way to answer it.  I do believe that within a month, most of the 16 German states will have gone to this.  We may even reach a stage by December, where some Bavarians have taken 20 tests....all negative in results.