Positive assessment of first rapid tests at schools

On Tuesday, March 23, the DRK carried out rapid corona tests at the first schools. Fortunately, none of the 580 samples showed a positive result. Today, Wednesday, rapid tests will be carried out at a further ten schools.

The city of Jena had announced that as part of the citizen testing program, free rapid tests would be made available on a voluntary basis, especially for schoolchildren in grades 1 to 6 who have not yet been tested in Thuringia.

Principal Konstanze Müller from the "Friedrich Schiller" state elementary school in Jena summarized her experiences: "The spit tests were well received by parents and children. It was manageable. The children took it very seriously. The question remains open as to whether a spit test is the best thing for everyday school life or whether there could be even better variants."

The DRK team will carry out the first rapid tests at the Montessori School on Friday. Principal Petra Prauße welcomes the approach: "I am very grateful for the initiative of the city of Jena to ensure greater safety in schools by offering the possibility of testing. It is important that this becomes permanent."

Mayor Christian Gerlitz is delighted with the positive response: "We are very pleased with the start of the test campaign. We believe that this will be an important building block in keeping schools open even in a difficult situation. With this voluntary offer, we are also putting schools in a position to meet the wishes of many parents to have their children tested. My special thanks go to the German Red Cross, which is once again proving to be an important partner for the city of Jena in containing the corona pandemic."

Head of Department Hertzsch adds: "I would like to thank the school administrators who responded to this offer at very short notice and I am sure that this pilot operation for organized testing in elementary school will also enable us to gain experience for other community institutions."

The Jena crisis team concludes with a request to school principals to make this offer possible everywhere in order to improve safety in the facilities.