Spahn: Fever clinics planned for autumn
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More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.At the beginning of the week, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) pleaded for central contact points for patients with classic respiratory symptoms that could indicate a corona or flu infection. The statutory health insurance associations are to offer "fever clinics" on site in the future in order to avoid infections in the waiting room. Further rule changes are expected in mid-October.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) has specified the plans to set up so-called fever clinics with a view to a feared increase in the corona numbers. "It's about having an infrastructure that ensures that people don't get infected with each other in the waiting room. That makes sense for Corona and also with the flu and a possible flu wave," said Spahn on Monday in Berlin.
The CDU politician spoke of "specialist consultation hours", "specialist practices" and "regional fever clinics" that patients with corresponding symptoms should be able to turn to in the future. He is counting on the fact that the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV) would offer such "fever clinics" on site.
"Conceptually they already exist - ideally they should be accessible across the board in autumn." The KV is the self-governing organization of the resident doctors and is responsible for ensuring outpatient medical care.
"Fever ambulances 2.0" in Thuringia
In Thuringia, for example, KV sees itself prepared for the renewed establishment of fever consultation hours: If necessary, eleven infection consultation hours and three further contact points would be available for both infection patients and corona swabs, a spokesman said on Monday on request.
KV had already set up such contact points at the first peak of the corona pandemic - parallel to 25 smear points for corona tests, which have been ramped up again across the board since August. In addition, four mobile swab units could be used at corona focal points if necessary. In the fixed smear sites alone, 11,000 smears were taken over the summer up to the end of August and the corresponding laboratory tests were initiated.
Infection treatments are currently usually carried out in doctors' practices, especially those of general practitioners and paediatricians. They would be organized separately from the treatment of other patients. Two infection consultation hours outside of doctor's offices would already be opened as needed, said the spokesman.
Mid-October: Changes to the COVID regulations
With a view to the cold season, the Minister of Health announced a new corona test strategy, test regulation and new quarantine rules for returnees from risk areas for mid-October. For example, rapid antigen tests are to become part of the new test strategy because they are now also qualitatively better. So far, the significantly more reliable, but also complex PCR-TRests have been the standard. However, they cannot deliver results in minutes and are therefore unsuitable for preventive tests.
In order to prevent false information when entering from risk areas with many corona infections, the federal police should take care of the so-called exit cards in the future. For example, you have to fill out passengers and include information on possible corona symptoms. As the Federal Ministry of the Interior explained, the police should in future compare the cards with the passports and forward them to the health authorities. This new regulation should take effect before the end of the month. So far, airlines and bus providers should submit the forms. Since there was usually no comparison, travelers who wanted to evade a possible quarantine could in principle simply provide incorrect information.
More security in nursing homes
According to Spahns, visitors to nursing homes could, for example, be tested quickly with the aid of rapid antigen tests in order to find out a result directly and thus minimize the dangers for risk groups. "It is important that we continue to protect particularly affected risk groups and sharpen the concepts for this in everyday life," said the CDU politician. Spahn further explained that the test capacities had been increased enormously. "In the past four weeks alone, about a third of all tests have been done since the pandemic began."
Test options beyond normal practice, as already existed in many places in the spring, are also to be prepared. It is important to ensure that people in the waiting room do not infect each other, said Spahn. He spoke of specialist consultation hours, specialist practices or regional fever clinics. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) stated that the practices are well prepared for the coming weeks with more flu-like infections and possible corona cases. The establishment of independent corona facilities could be added depending on the need - this should then be decided regionally.
Spahn called the current "dynamic" of infections in Europe "worrying". "There is no neighboring country directly to Germany that does not have a multiple of our number of infections in relation to the size of the population, and that of course also leads to entry into Germany."
(vb / ag / dpa)
