As omicron case numbers skyrocket and well being care techniques threaten to give method, the German authorities is altering its COVID-19 testing technique.
Final week, testing labs reached 86% of capability, in accordance with the nation’s Affiliation of Accredited Laboratories. In the meantime, the German well being minister — a educated epidemiologist — predicted that the variety of corona infections may attain a excessive of 600,000 per day by mid-February.
Till final Saturday, anybody who examined constructive through a fast antigen check was informed to verify their constructive outcome through a polymerase chain response (PCR) check.
Now, solely medical workers and folks thought of susceptible will likely be eligible for a PCR check.
Well being officers at the moment are advising individuals who check constructive however present no signs, in addition to those that are shut contacts or who obtain excessive threat warnings within the Corona-Warn-App, to rely as an alternative on “high-quality antigen exams.”
However how correct are fast antigen exams?
With an accuracy nearing 100%, PCR testing is the gold customary for diagnosing SARS-Cov-2. It exams the genetic materials in a pattern, which helps it detect even the tiniest traces of the virus. Many official processes require a PCR check outcome as proof of a constructive or unfavorable outcome, together with insurance coverage claims and entry into sure international locations.
However excessive accuracy calls for extremely educated laboratory technicians, particular gear and time — all of that are scarce assets in a quickly evolving pandemic.
Speedy exams, alternatively, take about quarter-hour and might be achieved by folks at residence. They detect small SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins, known as antigens.
However, in contrast to PCR exams, the accuracy of fast antigen exams varies extensively.
For starters, they’re most delicate within the acute section of an an infection (when somebody’s viral load is at its highest), regardless that research present the virus spreads at medium-to-low viral load. Secondly, lots of the fast available on the market aren’t regulated.
Germany can handle 430,000 PCR exams per day, in contrast with virtually 1 million a day within the metropolis of Vienna, Austria
A German preprint examine launched in August discovered that two of the most typical fast exams out there in Germany have been solely 60% efficient — they missed 4 in each 10 individuals who examined constructive for coronavirus with PCR exams. The researchers discovered that solely folks with a really excessive viral load examined constructive through the fast exams. The outcomes additionally advised that the exams had a considerably decrease sensitivity to new coronavirus variants like omicron.
A bigger, more moderen examine printed in November and carried out by the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany’s federal institute for vaccines and biomedicine, discovered that 96 out of 122 fast antigen exams out there have been at the very least 75% correct. As soon as once more, the fast exams have been discovered to be way more delicate to excessive viral masses.
Research investigating the effectiveness of fast antigen exams in detecting the omicron variant are at present being carried out, Well being Minister Karl Lauterbach mentioned in early January. Presently, omicron accounts for about 44% of coronavirus infections in Germany, in accordance with the Robert Koch Institute, the federal government company in command of illness management and prevention.
What are you able to do with out entry to PCR testing?
Well being officers advocate doing multiple fast antigen check to make sure greater accuracy, particularly for those who check constructive, and to search for better-performing manufacturers which have confirmed sensitivity. That goes for each skilled and self-administered fast exams. The German Federal Institute for Medicine and Medical Units lists all permitted antigen exams and their accuracy.
Beginning in Could, laws will change within the European Union, requiring that every firm that manufactures coronavirus exams on the market within the EU have its merchandise examined in a laboratory and the outcomes independently verified. Presently, fast check producers can self-certify.
In the USA and Australia, strict regulation of fast exams has partially led to a brief provide of the exams and excessive prices. In India, fast antigen exams are equally unregulated and infrequently inaccurate, whereas many different international locations within the International South wrestle to inventory any in any respect.
With out entry to PCR testing, many individuals residing in Germany will wrestle to meet the strict necessities of border entry into different international locations, in addition to to file insurance coverage claims or acquire proof of “restoration” standing until the German well being agendy adjustments its standards.
Different EU international locations reporting far greater PCR testing skills
Although Germany is rationing its PCR exams, different EU international locations are ramping up their testing capacities.
Austria is managing about 5 occasions as many PCR exams as Germany. Its capital, Vienna, is finishing up greater than the entire of Germany — at present about 2.4 million per week, in comparison with 2 million in Germany. They’re additionally far inexpensive — out there for €6 ($6.80) in Vienna, in contrast with €50 to €70 in Germany.
Based on the RKI, Germany is at present able to doing about 430,000 PCR exams per day. In the UK, which has the same inhabitants measurement to Germany’s, the day by day PCR testing capability is reaching about 1 million. Denmark, Greece and France are additionally dealing with far greater testing numbers.
Edited by: Carla Bleiker