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The biotech company Centogene tested around 40,000 passengers for the corona virus at Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Düsseldorf airports in the last seven days.

Although passenger numbers are falling, despite the tough lockdown, many people are still getting on planes.

Almost 1.45 percent of the tests were positive - Volkmar Weckesser, CIO of Centogene, believes that the tests will help to fight the pandemic.

Because most of the travelers who tested positive had no symptoms.

Weckesser does not share the concern that the virus mutation spreads faster through air traffic.

WORLD:

Mr. Weckesser, the federal government is debating curfews and the “mega lockdown”, but many people are happily flying on.

How does that fit together?

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Volkmar Weckesser:

One can hardly speak of lively at the airports.

It is clear that each individual should check whether a trip is really necessary.

For some professional groups, however, flying is inevitable, for example for fitters or experts for certain machines.

Tests immediately after arrival or before departure are exactly the right way to prevent the pathogen from spreading.

The test offers are already very present in the airports.

And flying isn't the only type of mobility that helps spread the virus.

Volkmar Weckesser, CIO of the biotech company Centogene

Source: Centogene

WORLD:

So travelers and commuters, for example, should also be tested before train travel?

Weckesser:

There were already approaches, Centogene had also been testing travelers returning from abroad for a few weeks at train stations in Bavaria.

I think it is appropriate to get the pandemic and mutations under control.

In any case, it will remain necessary for the time being to keep travel to a minimum.

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WORLD:

Until January 13, a flight ban was in effect for countries in which the mutation is particularly widespread.

Research by WELT shows that there were 215 special permits for passenger flights during this time.

Will we get the mutation into the country via the airplanes?

Weckesser:

The passengers on these flights were all tested beforehand.

In Frankfurt am Main, the Federal Police check the results on site, and those who cannot prove a test are channeled straight to us at the test center and have to wait at the airport until the result is there.

There are also the quarantine rules.

I think you do what you can.

Unfortunately, the virus was faster than us anyway.

The mutation was already in different places on the European mainland before the flight ban, so that only further spread can be prevented.

WORLD:

Only a fraction of all passengers can be tested directly at the airport.

The numbers should be much higher, also with regard to the double test requirement.

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Weckesser:

Yes, we actually expected that too.

However, travelers can also be tested in the country of departure.

And as a private company, we do not enforce the order, we only offer a solution for it.

WORLD:

If passengers from Great Britain or Ireland do not want to be tested at the airport, there is nothing you can do?

Weckesser:

We work closely with the state

health ministries

, which, as I said, have established a process that travelers without a negative test have to take a smear from us.

That's about a handful that are still being tested per flight.

WORLD:

Who is still traveling at the moment?

Weckesser:

During the Christmas holidays there were a lot of vacationers.

It is much quieter now, some business travelers or married couples.

WORLD: It was

recently announced that people were demonstrably infected on a flight to New Zealand.

Weckesser:

I don't know whether and which masks were worn on the plane.

In fact, no test can be 100% certain.

In general, it is the same with flying as in the train: If people sit together for a long time in a confined space, there is a risk of infection.

As far as I know, this is the only published case of an infection on a plane, although a lot of research has been done there.

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WORLD:

So in your opinion, too much attention is paid to flying?

Weckesser:

It is good to have a close eye on air travel, so that the virus is not spread over long distances.

However, it is just as important how much we adhere to which rules in the very close private and professional environment in order to generally stop the spread.

WORLD:

Now Centogene is relying more and more on rapid antigen tests.

Again and again there was criticism of the costs: up to 139 euros for the PCR test and 59 euros per antigen test.

Are your prices too high?

Weckesser:

We put a lot of effort into the test centers where the smears are taken.

Laboratory operations are also labor-intensive.

Because we rely on very sensitive, but laboratory-related or instrument-based tests not only for PCR analysis, but also for antigen tests.

In addition, the procurement costs in the market have increased.

And we have set up a digital portal on which the results are securely transmitted.

Compared to the test at the doctor's, I believe that we have fair prices.

WORLD: In

any case, fewer and fewer people are now flying, and passenger numbers are falling.

Nevertheless, you are increasing the capacities in the terminals.

Weckesser:

The development is always very dynamic.

We assume that more travel will be made again soon when the pandemic subsides.

Then you just need the additional security through preventive tests.

I am convinced that the need for testing will increase again in the coming months.

WORLD:

And where does Centogene stand then?

Weckesser:

Hopefully the country will be a lot further when it comes to vaccination, but we will still be a long way away from adequate herd immunity.

I expect travel operations to increase in the spring, and we need solutions for that.

Other countries will continue to require tests upon entry.

In general, I assume that the need for preventive testing will remain high if we want to get the economy going and get back to normal life.

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WORLD:

But many find the tests unpleasant, especially the nasal swab.

Why do alternatives such as spit or gargle tests fail?

Weckesser:

We work with throat swabs because scientific publications have shown that they are just as effective as the actually very unpleasant nasal swabs.

In the end, however, it's always about sensitivity.

We look at such alternative methods regularly.

As soon as tests by spitting or gurgling give the same certainty, we will certainly use them.

But, apart from the laboratory and instrument-based antigen tests that we use, I am not aware of any methods with sufficient sensitivity that approach PCR.

Incidentally, we have run these antigen tests in so-called round robin tests, which are regularly carried out to check the quality of the PCR tests: They have passed the requirements placed on the PCR.

This is by no means the case for all antigen tests.

WORLD: In

addition to air travelers, cross-border commuters are now also becoming the focus of the EU.

How could testing be put into practice here?

Weckesser:

We have been gaining experience with this for months in the Upper Palatinate, the Bavarian border area with the Czech Republic.

Since mid-October we have established a permanent test station in the district town of Cham, where cross-border commuters can be tested free of charge - and at times there were mobile test tracks in other places.

Both are financed by the Free State of Bavaria.

WELT:

According to the current resolution, nursing staff - of all people who are in contact with risk groups - are excluded from the mandatory testing of cross-border commuters.

Does this make sense?

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Weckesser:

If it was really decided that way, I actually consider it difficult.

Because in this region in particular there have already been severe outbreaks in old people's and nursing homes, where we were also requested to test residents and employees.

WORLD:

Soon everyone could buy self-tests for themselves at home, like in the USA.

That would not be convenient for Centogene.

Weckesser:

Well, carried out regularly, even less sensitive self-tests can certainly help to reduce the incidence of infections.

Everything that contributes to a return to normality helps us as a company.

WORLD:

But if self-tests spread to the masses, your test centers would become obsolete.

Weckesser:

I assume that we will need preventive testing for a long time, especially when traveling internationally.

Even if vaccination rates go up, many countries will want to see a negative test as an entry requirement.

Believe me, when the pandemic is under control, Centogene will be happy to focus fully on its core rare congenital diseases business again.

But especially with the new mutations and with regard to the international vaccination rate, which is likely to remain low for some time, I can say that we will need the tests for the next twelve to 24 months to create additional security.

WELT:

So test for another two years, also with herd immunity and a large part of the population who is vaccinated?

Weckesser:

Yes, I'm sure of it.

And even if a certain proportion of the population is vaccinated, countries of entry will require proof of whether passengers are infectious or not.

I hope that, contrary to survey results, most people get vaccinated - and that the protection against infection that the vaccines offer lasts as long as possible.

Volkmar Weckesser is Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Rostock biotech company Centogene;

i.e. responsible for the strategic management of information technology.

Weckesser studied at the University of Karlsruhe and did a doctorate in mathematics.

This was followed by positions at HSH Nordbank AG, DekaBank and Gothaer.

Centogene actually focuses on rare, congenital diseases.

However, the biotech company began large-scale tests for the virus in the early phase of the corona pandemic.

A separate division has now been established for this purpose.