Corona: test jam in the laboratories
Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.
More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.More and more laboratories in Germany can no longer keep up with testing - around 100,000 samples are currently jammed in the queue. Many of those tested receive their results much later than weeks ago. This is particularly critical because the proportion of those who tested positive continues to rise.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 69 laboratories reported a backlog of almost 100,000 samples to be processed in the past calendar week (until November 1st). Two weeks earlier there were 52 laboratories with just over 20,000 unprocessed samples.
The proportion of infected people is increasing
There are also more and more infected people among the patients who now receive their results with a delay. If they lose patience while waiting and adhere to the quarantine measures less strictly, they could pass the virus on more frequently.
In fact, the positive rate for corona tests in Germany has increased tenfold in the past two months. While it was only around 0.7 percent in calendar week 35 (until August 30), according to the RKI, around 7.3 percent of the tests were effective in calendar week 44 (until November 1) - the highest value since the first half of April.
Use test capacities in a more targeted manner
At that time, only people who were highly suspected of being infected were tested. In the meantime, the tests have also been extended to less suspicious cases. Overall, the actual infection rates today could therefore be significantly higher than in spring.
The RKI calls for the existing test capacities to be used in a more targeted manner in the future, so that they are used as effectively as possible. Among other things, it is "urgently necessary to prioritize the use of the tests with regard to the desired gain in knowledge depending on free test capacities".
Delivery problems with test accessories
In addition, the required test utensils are also becoming scarce: According to the RKI, 55 laboratories recently named delivery difficulties for reagents for evaluating the tests, plastic consumables and pipette tips.
The number of weekly tests climbed significantly by more than 400,000 in the past two months. 191 laboratories recently reported around 1.6 million such laboratory tests in one week - a record for Germany. The development of the positive rate and number of tests is reflected in the strong increase in reported new infections over the course of weeks.
Almost 20,000 corona cases in one day
On Thursday, the number of registered new corona infections reached a new high. According to the Robert Koch Institute, the health authorities in Germany reported 19,990 cases within one day in the morning. The RKI reported the highest value since the beginning of the pandemic last Saturday with 19,059 new cases.
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