Covid-19 in Austria: Free Test Offer to be Expanded
The Austrian Ministry of Health has announced that it will expand its pharmacy test offer even further. Soon, children from the age of 10 can pick up self-tests free of charge. Read everything about the new regulation below.
Austrian pharmacies will also distribute free self-tests to children from the age of 10 soon. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / joho345, Public Domain
In time for the start of the summer vacations, the free offer for self-tests in Austria will be expanded even further. Thus, in the future, everyone from the age of 10 will be able to use the offer of living room tests free of charge and obtain 10 pieces of the tests per month.
"We are pleased with the solution we have found to be able to make self-tests available free of charge to children from the age of 10. For families, this means more testing options are available overall during the summer vacations. The living room tests are valid for 24 hours," stated Austrian Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein.
"The lowering of the age restriction with the start of the vacations for the dispensing of living room tests in pharmacies represents another important step towards Covid-19 prevention. In addition, the new regulation gives children and young people more freedom with a view to the upcoming summer vacations. Austria's pharmacists are pleased to be able to implement a new measure that will help to largely regain the quality of life lost as a result of the pandemic, and to do so in a safe, unbureaucratic and low-threshold manner," explains Ulrike Mursch-Edlmayr, President of the Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists.
Children, who are born before 01.01.2012, receive the free tests. As before, the self-tests are permitted as an entry test (3G detection) in Austria, provided that the tests have been verified online. After the test result has been confirmed online, one receives a valid QR code via SMS or e-mail. As of July 1, the age limit for 3G proof is to be increased to 12 years.
Living room tests are not valid for obtaining a valid QR code according to the Green Passport concept at EU level. The Austrian test offer has been continuously expanded further in recent months; for example, free tests can also be carried out in municipal offices.