NEWS: The reason why Germany is ahead of the game in terms of minimising deaths because of the coronavirus pandemic is because they have a more widespread testing regime using, as they do, a network of hospitals, clinics and laboratories whereas in the US and the UK testing appears to be more centralised. Things may change. Indeed they have to change in the UK. Testing for current and past infections is vital to managing and controlling the disease.
So Germany is ahead and they’ve minimised loss of life better than other countries because of their testing and therefore their ability to understand the epidemic and better manage it.
In the light of that, a university in Germany is offering coronavirus tests for companion animals amid growing evidence that they are susceptible to infection. It is currently believed that domestic cats and wild cats can become infected and, indeed, that humans can infect them but there is currently no evidence that they can infect humans. This position may change but we await any developments in that regard.
The coronavirus tests will be free of charge and, as I understand it, the university is the Free University Berlin. This is a proactive step. I suspect that other testing facilities may follow suit.
