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Soon, all citizens should be entitled to free corona rapid tests. These must also be done in pharmacies. Even lay self-tests are coming soon
To limit the risk of a further spread of corona infections should initial steps be planned, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn wants to offer free rapid tests to all citizens starting on March 1. The CDU politician announced it this Tuesday on Twitter. Corona self-tests, which no longer require trained personnel, should also be available soon, he added.
On Tuesday, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported an increase in the number of new corona infections compared to the previous week for the first time in a long time. After examining the figures, the Health Ministry attributes this mainly to the fact that on Tuesday a week ago, 600 cases from North Rhine-Westphalia were only counted one day later. Several federal states had announced that they wanted to reopen elementary schools and nurseries as of February 22.
The ministry had stressed that the approval of the self-tests already used in Austria was expected in early March. The Paul Ehrlich Institute is supposed to check the quality of the evidence beforehand. “These testing options can contribute to a safe daily life, especially in schools and daycare centers,” Spahn tweeted. There are negotiations with several manufacturers.
The federal government had already expanded the use of rapid corona tests in several steps. They can already be used in nursing homes, clinics and, after infection, in schools, but for the moment with trained personnel. It is not necessary to send the samples to the laboratory for analysis. However, antigen tests are not considered as accurate as other PCR tests. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), a positive rapid test result must therefore be confirmed with a PCR test.
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