BERLIN (Reuters) – The German state of Bavaria said Sunday that it had tracked down most people returning from abroad who had tested positive for coronavirus, but had not been reported at a debacle that embarrassed a possible successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Bavaria said in a statement that it had discovered 903 of the 949 people who tested positive for a total of 44,000 returning travellers, although it may not find non-public information for 46 of the positive tests.
The tests had been carried out until two weeks ago at special centres that opened with great fanfare in the southern state, but access to knowledge meant that travelers had been waiting for the effects of their tests for days.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder apologized Thursday for the upheavals and promised to correct mistakes by adding more staff, and said he supported his fitness minister who had come forward to resign.
Some Conservatives see Soeder as the chancellor’s nominee in next year’s election, succeeding Merkel, who has said he will not run for a fifth term.Soeder has said so far that he will remain in Bavaria.
Germany has controlled to keep the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths relatively low compared to other European countries, however, there are considerations of a imaginable wave of the pandemic.
On Saturday, Germany experienced the largest accumulation of cases shown of coronavirus since last April, a build-up of 1415, but on Sunday the accumulation was only 625, fewer cases are recorded over the weekend.
Reports by Emma Thomasson; Edited through Alison Williams
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