Vienna Prepares for Mass Testing
The City of Vienna prepares to test its population for Covid-19. The responsible city departments, emergency organizations, and the Austrain Armed Forces have taken measures to provide test capacities for the period from December 4 to December 13. Within this period, every Viennese resident above the age of 10 is eligible for testing.
The City of Vienna is preparing all the needed supplies for the upcoming Covid-19 mass testing. / Picture: © Magistrat der Stadt Wien / PID / David Bohmann
In order to ensure the start of the mass tests on Friday, December 4, in Vienna, the construction work at the three locations Stadthalle, Marx-Halle and Messe Wien is running at full speed.
"Last week, we performed a logistical and organizational masterstroke during the preparations and found quick solutions in many areas. Of course, this was only possible thanks to the excellent cooperation with the Austrian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Health, the Federal Chancellery and the municipal organizations - I would like to thank them all," said Peter Hacker, Vienna's City Councillor for Health.
"The fire department of the city of Vienna has coordinated all areas and prepared them with the city's departments and emergency service organizations so that the halls can be handed over to the Austrian Armed Forces ready for operation on December 2", says Gerald Hillinger, Fire Director of the Professional Fire Brigade Vienna.
"Whatever the city of Vienna needs, we as the Austrian Armed Forces will provide, for this purpose we have already assembled more than 2000 soldiers and civilian staff for the federal capital", said Major General Rudolf Striedinger, Chief of Staff of the Federal Minister of Defense.
The large-scale tests will be conducted in the Austrian capital from December 4 to 13.
During this period, around 300 test lines will be provided, which are currently being set up by the Professional Fire Brigade Vienna.
With this capacity, a total of almost 15,000 tests per hour are possible, carried out by the Austrian Armed Forces.
The operation is scheduled for 10 hours daily, from 8 AM to 6 PM.
The competencies and responsibilities for the course of the tests in Vienna are clearly separated:
While the Austrian Armed Forces are responsible for the provision of registration and handling of the rapid antigen tests on behalf of the Federal Government, the City of Vienna provides the complete infrastructure - except for the registration software, the necessary servers and the telephone hotline.
Medical personnel will support the Armed Forces in taking the smear tests.
In order to be tested, registration is needed. Registered people need to bring their eCard to the assigned appointment, as it will be used for identity verification.
If the antigen test turns out positive, the official isolation is carried out by the Viennese health authority.
At the test sites, the City of Vienna also offers the possibility of having the results of the antigen tests verified on 20 test lines using PCR tests.
The result of this test will be submitted subsequently.
All common questions about the tests will be answered at https://coronavirus.wien.gv.at/site/faq-massentests/ (only available in German until now).