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So far, only a few positive cases have been found in the broad-based crown tests at Hildburghausen. So far, six of the 900 rapid antigen tests have been positive, said district administrator Thomas Müller (CDU) on the second day of mass testing in the Thuringia district. At this time, however, no serious statement can be made about a possible number of unreported cases.
Hildburghausen is a Corona hotspot in Germany. With up to 630 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days, the southern district of Thuringia was the region in Germany with the highest incidence for days. The value continued to decline on Tuesday and, according to the Ministry of Health, it was still a very high 519 infections.
Müller expressed concern about the diffuse spread of the corona virus in Hildburghausen: »We had the first corona case on March 20. About seven months later, we had case number 100, ”he said. “So we were pretty much Corona-free all summer, and then things suddenly went away, from late October. Now there are more than 2000 cases. “That worries us.”
The frequency of infection among kindergarten and school children and their caregivers in Hildburghausen will be determined by rapid antigen tests before Friday. There are a total of around 11,000 such tests available. According to district manager Müller, there are 25 cleaning crews at various locations in Hildburghausen. It is not known how many people volunteer to get tested. According to the Thuringian Ministry of Health, some 3,000 people have so far been registered.
According to the Ministry of Health, the campaign, which is unique so far, started on Tuesday in the Werraspatzen kindergarten. This is to allow the reopening of kindergartens and schools, which have been closed since November 25 after the sharp increase in the number of infections.
The German Red Cross, the Technical Relief Organization and the German Armed Forces provide support with testing. The number of children, youth, teachers, educators and employees using the rapid tests offered was initially open. Its use is also controversial, not all local politicians in the district support the action.
Extensive mass testing of asymptomatic people can help to get an overview of the infection rate in the population. However, the rapid antigen tests used are not as reliable as the PCR tests. Up to ten percent of those infected go undetected because antigen tests are particularly effective in highly infectious people.
If you test a person too early, for example, the test could come back negative, even though the person is a carrier of the virus and possibly becomes contagious soon after. It therefore depends on the time of the test: rapid tests should be performed several times at intervals of a few days. This is not planned in Hildburghausen at the moment.
Rapid antigen tests only instantaneous
Additionally, a New York Times report suggests that rapid antigen tests may not work as well in people younger than 16 as they do in adults. Based on this, some study results indicate that infected children and adolescents are less reliably detected by these tests. However, the current data is not yet sufficient to be able to make a definitive statement.
Thuringian Health Minister Heike Werner (Die Linke) is aware that the massive tests are only a snapshot. “We also want to see what role kindergartens and schools play in the spread,” he said. “Based on the numbers that we have so far, they appear to be safe places; now we want to see if there is a significantly high number of unreported cases.” Students and teachers who test negative for antigen may also go back to school.
