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Munich (dpa / lby) - The state government will start the large-scale deployment of a new corona rapid test in January, which is said to be far more reliable than the previously usual rapid procedure.

For the time being, the state government has ordered six of the new test devices officially approved just last week and 60,000 test kits from the start-up GNA Biosolutions.

In addition, Bavaria has secured the right of first refusal for 1000 devices plus one million tests, as Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) said in Munich on Tuesday.

According to Aiwanger, the new rapid test is the “world's best rapid test” - an assessment that the biochemist Horst Domdey, well-known in the biotech scene, largely confirmed: “This test system is one of the most sensitive in the world, one of the cheapest in the world and the fastest in the world.

Unlike the previously usual rapid antigen tests, the new rapid test from the Munich suburb of Martinsried is also a PCR test that directly detects the genetic material of the Covid-19 pathogen.

According to Aiwanger, the system called "Octea" would be well suited for hospitals and retirement homes as well as for tests at airports, train stations and highways.

The PCR method is considered to be the most reliable, but it is comparatively slow because the samples first have to be sent to laboratories and analyzed there.

Usually the result is only available after two days.

The test devices from GNA-Biosolutions deliver the results in less than an hour and are so small that mobile laboratories are also possible with them.

GNA Biosolutions wants to apply for EU-wide approval in March, as company boss Federico Bürsgens said.

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Aiwanger's ministry funded the development with eight million euros - an investment that, according to the Free Voter Chief, will more than pay off.

On the one hand, the state government saves money because a purchase test costs less than 20 euros; on the other hand, Aiwanger believes that the rapid tests could help accelerate the return to normalcy in parts of the economy and social life that have been hit by corona-related closings.