The laboratories are at the limit: waiting for the result of a PCR test requires more and more patience - and in individual cases can become a crime.
Freising
– With Ulrike Hero from Sixthaselbach, for example, an operation appointment almost fell through because the test result only arrived after more than two days.
The overload of laboratories against the background of the omicron wave is becoming a problem - because PCR test results are only valid for 48 hours after the swab has been taken - and therefore meaningless if no result has been submitted by then.
The Eurofins laboratory, for example, has already sounded the alarm and informed the Freising district office a few days ago, "that the times previously reached for the results of the PCR tests - often within one day - can no longer be maintained," reports authority spokesman Robert Stangl on request .
"In the meantime, due to the sheer number of cases, the number of PCR tests required throughout Bavaria has increased to such an extent that it is possible that there is often no result even within 48 hours of receipt of the sample by the laboratory." They are in contact to the laboratory and point out the problem – but “as a district office I have no influence here”.
By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.
"The laboratories are at their limit," confirms Antje Petzold, who has been carrying out rapid antigen tests and PCR tests in the district for more than a year.
"It's actually been like this for a few months, but now the omicron wave is practically on top." In practice, this means that Antje Petzold and most of the test stations are very well booked.
On the other hand, it is taking longer and longer before a PCR test result is available: "I no longer do the paid PCR tests that you need for a flight on vacation, for example, because I can no longer guarantee my customers that they will the result is there in time," says the trained nurse.
"I'm practically doing a triage at the PCR here"
Antje Petzold therefore sends this clientele to the airport test station, where the PCR test is much more expensive, but the result is guaranteed to be available within a short time.
"I'm practically doing a triage with the PCR here and only testing people with symptoms or contact persons."
Ulrike Hero did her PCR test at the Freising center in the Luitpold facility because a small operation was pending.
She sums up her experience in two words: "Never again!"
Patient desperately waiting for her test result
The Sixthaselbach woman had booked her test last Wednesday for the early evening because the time of her outpatient surgery on Friday – i.e. the day after next – in the Achdorf hospital could only be determined at short notice. "If it was my turn on the day of the operation in the afternoon, the test would certainly still be valid," thought Ulrike Hero. The next day, Thursday, passed without reporting any results. Nothing came during the night either.
Then Friday.
Ulrike Hero became nervous because the surgery date had been set for 11 a.m. in the meantime.
At 9.30 a.m. she called the hospital and reported in great excitement: "I still have no result." Information from the hospital: The surgery appointment will then be cancelled.
At 10.15 a.m. Hero called Achdorf again – this time quite desperate.
A goodwill offer from the hospital followed: "If you are boosted, we will also accept a quick test from us." Ulrike Hero is boosted.
No sooner said than done - the surgery worked out at the last minute.
What particularly annoyed Ulrike Hero in retrospect: “My husband and I waited two hours on Friday to reach someone at the test center.
In vain.” Incidentally, the test result came in the evening at 10:30 p.m. – eleven hours after the operation.
Rapid tests: It's all about quality
According to Antje Petzold, what triggered the rush to PCR tests were the reports about the unreliability of rapid antigen tests: “Now everyone wants a PCR.
And to get it for free, people even resort to tricks like showing an app alert on a phone they don't even own.”
According to Petzold, the quality of the rapid tests in the district varies widely.
She herself only uses German material and inserts the nose stick deeply and sustainably during the swab.
However, inferior test kits are also used and tested carelessly, reports Petzold.
"It's less uncomfortable.
That's why these test stations are often the most popular," says Petzold.
"But if I just poke around on the front of the nose, the test doesn't work."
The BRK is fishing out more and more positive things
But there are other factors that could falsify the result, Antje Petzold emphasizes - the temperature, for example: "If I test in a tent at five degrees, it's simply too cold for a reliable result." It gives the reliability of a high-quality and professionally executed quick tests with 96 percent - "with high virus load".
In her view, the tug-of-war over PCR dates is “blind panic and superfluous”.
BRK district manager Albert Söhl sees it that way too.
Of course, PCR tests are more reliable – but also much more expensive and complex.
You have to leave the church in the village here.
So far, the BRK has only offered rapid antigen tests at its test stations - and they would work very well, at least in the case of a high virus load, reports the BRK boss.
And they do that more and more often: "We're fishing out more and more positives," reports Söhl, "and we hear that from all the test stations in the district.
Greetings from Omicron.”