Poor record at Omikron: Munich virologist warns of false rapid tests - and makes demands
Created: 02/22/2022, 09:35 am
By: Marc Dimitriu
Rapid corona tests often do not recognize Omikron.
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
The corona incidence in Germany has fallen sharply again.
Meanwhile, there is bad news for the quick test.
These often do not recognize Omikron.
Corona incidence
in
Germany
is falling: the number of new infections is falling (see first report).
Corona rapid
tests often do not recognize
Omicron
: Munich virologist demands a list of suitable tests from the Paul Ehrlich Institute (see update from February 22, 8.50 a.m.).
The news ticker is continuously updated.
Update from February 22, 8.50 a.m .:
Many common
rapid corona
tests often do not
detect an
omicron infection.
Researchers led by the Munich virologist Oliver Keppler from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität examined the performance of nine commercially available rapid antigen tests for detecting an infection with the omicron or the delta variant - and draw a sobering conclusion: Eight of the Paul Tests already tested by the Ehrlich Institute for earlier variants of the virus were worse at detecting omicron infection than delta infection, the study found, which was published in the journal Medical Microbiology and Immunology.
"You should never take a negative result as a free pass," Keppler warned.
Especially in the omicron wave, precautionary measures such as keeping your distance and wearing masks are important to protect yourself and others.
Keppler warned that testing people without symptoms creates a false sense of security, especially in the current wave.
"In my view, asymptomatic testing with self-tests makes little sense," said Keppler.
However, it makes sense to test with good antigen rapid tests in addition to limiting contacts in the event of symptoms.
Then the viral load is usually higher;
Tests are more likely to work.
Like the Federal Minister of Health, Keppler is demanding that a short list of tests that are well suited for detecting omicrons be published quickly - after all, there are now 580 rapid tests on the market.
"The one-eyed blind tests for the detection of omicron must now be quickly identified and published by the Paul Ehrlich Institute." About ten readily available tests would be sufficient for this.
Corona in Germany: Incidence falls again - deaths continue to rise
First report from February 22, 2022:
Berlin – The
seven-day incidence
has fallen again.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), it was 1306.8 on Tuesday morning.
The previous day the value was 1346.8.
A week ago, the nationwide incidence was 1437.5 (previous month: 772.7).
In addition, 125,902 new corona infections were reported within one day.
A week ago there were 159,217 infections.
Experts assume a high number of cases that are not recorded in the RKI data.
Test capacities and health authorities are therefore at the limit in many places, and contacts are only tracked to a limited extent.
In addition, there is likely to be a larger number of people who no longer have their infection confirmed by a PCR test - the infection is therefore not included in the official statistics.
Corona: More dead again
According to the new information, 306 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours.
A week ago there were 243 deaths.
Meanwhile, the burden in the clinics continues to decrease.
The RKI gave the hospitalization incidence on Monday at 6.06 (Sunday: 6.27).
Among them are many people with a positive corona test who have another main disease.
(dpa)