Aldi, Lidl, dm or pharmacy: These are the 20 best rapid corona tests for at home

Created: 01/18/2022, 10:42 am

By: Markus Hofstetter

Roche sells corona self-tests from the South Korean manufacturer SD Biosensor in Germany © Eckhard Stengel/imago

Many people buy rapid corona tests in stores and pharmacies.

But how reliable are they and how sure do they recognize the Omicron variant.

Munich – Quick tests* have become an integral part of life.

In addition to vaccinations, they are one of the key measures to combat the Corona* pandemic.

In addition, the 2G Plus rule* applies in many places.

This means that only vaccinated and recovered people have access to restaurants or cinemas, for example, if they can show a test.

Excluded are people with a booster vaccination.

Many companies also require tests for the office.

A lot is also tested in the private sphere, for example when visiting relatives.

Corona rapid tests: All tests examined meet requirements

Around 600 different corona tests are available in Germany. To be really on the safe side, you should reliably prove the corona virus. The

has scrutinized 20 rapid tests that are particularly often offered in stores and pharmacies. These were compared with studies by the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) that deal with the effectiveness of rapid tests.

A first result is that all 20 tests meet the required minimum sensitivity of 75 percent, many even reach a value of 100 percent.

The sensitivity determines the effectiveness of a test, the closer the value is to 100, the better it detects the corona virus.

This also applies to the detection of the omicron variant.

However, for rapid tests to detect an infection, there must be a high viral load at the time of the test.

Corona rapid tests: confusing offer

The 20 tests examined by the

were selected on the basis of sales figures in pharmacies.

This includes brands that are sold in grocery stores and drugstores.

An exception is the rapid test from Siemens Healthineers, which is mainly purchased by authorities, for example for use in schools.

The complexity of the offer

proved to be a challenge for the

Because many tests from manufacturers in Asia are sold in Germany via different suppliers, in different packaging and designs and with different product names.

Large suppliers such as Roche or Siemens Healthineers also buy their tests from other manufacturers, such as Roche from the South Korean company SD Biosensor and Siemens from Healgen Scientific in the USA. 

Corona rapid tests: steeply increasing demand at the end of the year

It is unknown how many rapid tests are sold in Germany.

The sales figures in pharmacies, which come from the market research company Insight Health, provide an indication.

According to this, they made sales of over 178 million euros last year with Covid 19 tests from the 16 leading providers.

The statistics include both quick tests for amateurs and for professional use, for example tests that measure the level of antibodies.

One finding of the market researchers is that at the end of 2021 the sales figures rose sharply.

While pharmacies sold less than one million packs in many months, sales rose to over six million units each in November and December.

A packaging unit can also contain several tests.

Corona rapid tests: lucrative business

The rapid test business is extremely lucrative for providers.

, Siemens Healthineers alone

generated sales of over 1.1 billion euros with quick tests for laypeople in the past fiscal year.

The buyers were mainly authorities.

Providers who sell tests from different manufacturers in Asia are also recording high sales figures.

These include brand names such as Hotgen, Boson, Anbio or MP Biomedical.

These three brands are often also available in the branches and online shops of Lidl*, Aldi Süd*, Rewe*, dm* and Rossmann*.

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