Around half a million PCR tests per week - according to the Berlin-based Vironlogen Christian Droste, this should also be a reason for the comparatively few deaths in Germany.
Berlin (dpa) - According to estimates by the chief virologist of the Charité in Berlin, Christian Drosten, around 500,000 tests for a coronavirus infection are now carried out per week.
"The reason why we currently have so few deaths in Germany compared to the number of infected people can be explained sufficiently by the fact that we do a lot of laboratory diagnostics in Germany," Drosten said in Berlin on Thursday. The latest estimates suggested that around half a million so-called PCR tests were carried out every week. Smears are taken from the nose or throat and examined for viral genetic material in the laboratory.
Research into treating Covid 19 sufferers is currently about using existing drugs, Drosten said. In his opinion, there are at least two substances that are "more promising". Specifically, he called the flu drug favipiravir, which is approved in some Asian countries. One sees an "initial evidence for an effect" with this substance, but it is small and one needs more studies to say something about it.