Only 6.4 percent of the population of the 10th district had themselves tested. Strongest participation in new construction.
A total of 234,889 people took part in the corona mass tests in Vienna. That is only around 13.5 percent of all Viennese aged six and over who are eligible to take a test. The three test centers in the town hall, the trade fair and the Marx hall were designed for up to 1.2 million people.
In the Ö1 morning journal, City Councilor for Health Peter Hacker (SPÖ) put the numbers into perspective: in November alone, around 200,000 people would have been tested in the capital, and they “will certainly not” have gone to mass tests again.
Tactical stay away
In addition, unlike other countries, Austria carried out the mass test immediately after a lockdown. Because of this, and because of the tense labor market situation, many people would have considered “whether it is good at the moment that they risk being quarantined if they have no symptoms,” said Hacker.
In the town hall one sees this thesis supported by the evaluation of the participation according to district. This shows that in districts with a higher proportion of blue-collar workers, fewer people tended to go to the mass tests than in better-off socio-economically.
However, a connection between willingness to test and a migration background cannot be established. Rudolfsheim-Fünhaus, the district with the highest proportion of people of foreign origin, is represented above average. In Liesing, which has the second lowest proportion of people with a migration background, fewer people went to test than in the Vienna average.
A possible migration background was of course not recorded in the mass tests, since the factors involved were epidemiologically irrelevant.
City Councilor for Health Peter Hacker
591 infected people without symptoms were discovered during the tests in Vienna. A total of 1,515 gargle tests were carried out after a positive antigen test, 725 were negative. The evaluation was still pending in 199 cases.
The fair was the most popular. Almost 117,000 people did the corona check there – which is also attributed to the fact that in the city council office, after the very poor start from Monday, testing was also possible without registration. A good 80,000 people were checked in the town hall, and a little less than 38,000 in the Marxhalle.
Look ahead
As representatives of the armed forces, the Arbeiter-Samariterbund and the professional fire brigade reported on Monday, there are already considerations for the implementation of mass testing in the coming year. A new setting should therefore ensure that one can get by with a little less medical staff without restricting the overall capacities. Corresponding plans are currently being drawn up.
In any case, big clearing away is not the order of the day. “Much of the infrastructure will remain in place,” emphasized Vienna's military commander Kurt Wagner. They will be left in the halls. Only the control systems or barriers in front of the facilities will be dismantled.
“I think that we have succeeded in making an effective contribution to protecting the population,” said Wagner happily, despite the influx that fell short of expectations. The feedback from those people who had themselves tested was very positive, he said. The Armed Forces were deployed in Vienna with a total of 2,000 people – including civil and military personnel. Half of them came from other federal states.
