Nehammer's suggestion that retailers should carry out the control of corona tests is not only met with rejection in politics.
From mid-January there will be the opportunity to visit shops and restaurants by “freeing yourself up”. According to Interior Minister Karl Nehammer, however, the monitoring of compliance with these rules should not be carried out by the police, but by the respective operator, “ heute” reported on it.
The move that companies and not the public sector should be responsible for the control of free tests from the third lockdown is not only met with rejection in politics. There is also great astonishment and criticism about this in the federal trade division of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ). “We welcome the opportunity to be 'freed'. However, the control of the tests cannot be transferred to companies, for example in the retail sector,” says Rainer Trefelik, chairman of the federal retail division in the WKÖ.
The spokesman for the trade fully shares the opinion of Federal Minister Köstinger, who spoke out against control by businesses: “What applies to the catering industry must also apply to the trade.”
The responsible authorities can check at any time whether someone has checked themselves out, but “the dealers and their employees will not play police,” emphasizes Trefelik.
The Chamber of Commerce will of course support the companies with information material – e.g. prefabricated notices etc. “However, it cannot be the task of an interest group to carry out controls,” concluded Trefelik.
