German states started conducting a large number of tests independently with private labs offering tests even before health insurers started paying for it, giving it a headstart in its fight against the coronavirus with other European countries looking at it as a possible model.

Germany's decentralised political system means that its public health services are run by some 400 district and municipal administrations. Laboratories operate independently without central control. These can include labs associated with universities, hospitals and privately-owned ones.

The Guardian quoted Matthias Orth, of the Institute of Laboratory Medicine at Stuttgart’s Marienhospital as saying: “I don’t have to wait to get a call from the health minister before I can go ahead with a test.”

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