Offenbach and Corona: Parents complain about confusing information from the health department

• fromFabian Scheuermann

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Parents feel abandoned by the responsible authorities after infections at Offenbach’s Leibnizgymnasium. Discussions are ongoing about an own Offenbach test center.

Sabine Albrecht-Eflanli finds hard words with regard to the work of the Offenbach health department. “If you don’t act independently, don’t speak German very well or don’t develop your own ideas, then nobody will help you here,” says the mother of a 13-year-old student at the Leibniz School. At the grammar school in Offenbacher Westend several positive corona cases had become known in the past few weeks. But the way the city was dealing with the situation made some parents insecure and angry.

Albrecht-Eflanli, whose son has a classmate who tested positive for Corona, tells of the inability to reach the office, of calls that have been announced that have not been made, and of appointments for corona tests where the date and day of the week did not match. In addition, the student body of one class with a corona case should be tested and that of another not. Albrecht-Eflanli is also worried because she works with old people. A few weeks ago there was a similar situation – where the mother then organized a test for herself and her son.

The scandal occurred on Wednesday when the parents and children of the Leibniz Gymnasium drove to the Frankfurt University Hospital for the corona test – and were sometimes rejected there because there was too much going on. “The school class was sent to the test center without prior registration, so unfortunately not all students could be tested,” explains Karl Roth, spokesman for the Hesse Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVH), which operates the center. The children were then tested on Thursday in a mobile test center in the playground of their Offenbach school, an “absolutely exceptional event organized with a large investment of time”, as the spokesman for the city of Offenbach, Fabian El Cheikh, emphasizes.

No own test center

Regarding the allegations from parenthood, El Cheikh says that they “understand that parents want to be fully informed about the situation at the school”, but the health department cannot provide such an information service. Parents can contact the school administration if they have any questions. Those directly affected, i.e. people who have to be quarantined or who are sent to a test, would, however, “always be informed by the health department”.

The question of whether tests are carried out depends “on the capacities of the test centers and medical practices”. There is no entitlement to a test. Due to the limited test capacities, tests are only carried out – if at all – at the end of the quarantine, as a negative result at this point can ensure that “there is no longer any risk of infection for others and the quarantine can be ended,” says El Cheikh .

Another point that annoys many people affected is the fact that, despite the high number of infections, there is still no corona test center in Offenbach, only practices that carry out tests in certain cases. “We want a test center and are therefore already in talks with the KVH,” said Mayor Felix Schwenke (SPD) of the FR on Friday. According to city spokesman El Cheikh, suggestions for locations have already been made, including the city hall and the MTW music club. But no idea has yet met with approval. “The locations discussed so far were not suitable for running a test center, especially from a hygienic point of view,” said KVH spokesman Roth.

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