Testing strategy: why rapid tests for homes are often not good enough

Cologne's path in the pandemic is different than in other major German cities.

The city relies on biotechnology.

When the others do rapid tests, Cologne does a PCR.

If the others only take a closer look at the samples from travelers, the cathedral city searches every single virus found for mutations.

Johannes Nießen, the chief medical officer of the cathedral city, can explain why this is so.

WELT:

Nursing homes should actually be protected with rapid tests, according to the national test strategy.

But you do PCR testing.

How did that happen?

Johannes Nießen:

That has historical reasons, so to speak.

We already started to test the homes and especially the staff there in April 2020, at that time there was only the PCR tests.

In order to be able to do that, we had to set up our own test structure, the so-called biomonitoring teams.

When the rapid antigen tests came into the test strategy in mid-October and were reimbursable, we had retained the PCR tests.

WORLD:

But rapid antigen tests are much cheaper.

Why not just change the test method?