Germany says its laboratories are now able to conduct 900,000 Coronavirus tests weekly.
The Country’s Health Minister, Jens Spahn disclosed this to reporters in Berlin on Wednesday.
“Today, we have a theoretically possible capacity of almost 900,000 tests (per week) in Germany already, as long as the materials for these tests are available,” He said.
Roughly 470,000 tests were carried out last week, suggesting there is a spare capacity that could help prevent outbreaks among medical staff at hospitals and care homes.
“I think it’s very, very important to see that with what we’ve achieved together in recent weeks, including through the strong lockdown, the biggest risk for an outbreak is in healthcare,” Spahn said.
Tests should be carried out “as comprehensively and preventively as possible” among staff, including in care homes, he said.
Federal law and testing guidelines from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control were being adjusted to reflect these aims, Spahn added.
