Corona current
Quick test for a conversation at home – you should know that by now
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According to reports, we should all soon be able to test ourselves for the coronavirus from home. But how does the quick test work? And how certain is the result? Here's everything you need to know.
After pharmacists, dentists and outpatient nurses were only granted the authority to test people for the coronavirus in mid-January, Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn would now like to go one step further: In the near future, we should also be able to test ourselves from home Being able to test pathogens.
In order to make this possible, according to a report by the "Rheinische Post", the medical products dispensing regulation is to be changed, the newspaper quotes from a corresponding draft of the Ministry of Health: "Antigen tests for self-application by means of antigen determination are exempt from the dispensing restriction". Because, the paper goes on to say: "Tests for self-application by laypeople will play a decisive role in containing the pandemic." Reason enough to deal with it once.
How does the corona rapid test for at home work?
The planned at-home rapid test is an antigen test; H. it is determined whether proteins (protein fragments) from the envelope of the virus can be detected in a sample. It is likely to be offered as a spit-gargle variant: the test person gargles with a special liquid for about 30 seconds and then spits it into a container. It's a lot easier than taking a throat or nose swab on yourself, but apparently just as effective. Similar to a pregnancy test, the corona antigen test reacts when it comes into contact with the sample and shows either a positive or a negative result after a certain period of time (probably in about 30 minutes).
Where and from when can I get the corona rapid test for at home?
According to the "Rheinische Post", experts expect that the test could be offered in pharmacies as early as the end of January and will cost between ten and 15 euros.
How reliable is the corona rapid test for at home?
Antigen tests are fundamentally less reliable than PCR tests and can therefore not replace the latter, but only supplement them. An antigen test can produce both false positive and false negative results. How high the error rate is depends on the respective infection process: the more people in my environment are infected, the more accurate a (positive) test result is. The use of antigen tests therefore appears to be particularly useful when there is a high incidence of infection. In any case, a laboratory test would have to be carried out for both negative and positive antigen test results.
What does the corona rapid test bring for at home?
The two very big advantages of the corona test for at home are: It delivers a useful result incredibly quickly and you do not need specialist staff to carry it out. Therefore, especially in regions or phases in which test centers are overloaded, it can provide initial information to people who are suspected of having an infection and help test centers to prioritize who will be tested first in the PCR process.
Sources used: Rheinische Post, Tagesschau, RKI, Apothekenumschau