Health
Epidemiologist: Corona self-test for cold symptoms
One has to assume that many people have just been infected with Corona and believed that they only had a cold, says the Bremen epidemiologist Hajo Zeeb. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
The RKI is again reporting more confirmed corona cases – but a “huge wave” is not to be expected. Nevertheless, an expert calls on all those who feel cold symptoms to self-test.
In light of increasing numbers of confirmed Corona cases in Germany, the Bremen epidemiologist Hajo Zeeb has called for self-tests in suspected cases.
“Anyone who has cold symptoms should test themselves again now in order to detect a corona infection and if possible not to infect anyone,” said the expert from the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology to the editorial network Germany (RND). “The tests continue to work reliably, even with the new variant.”
One has to assume that many people have just been infected with Corona and believed that they only had a cold, said Zeeb. “The number of unreported cases is very high, we just don’t know the exact number of cases.” However, he pointed out that the sewage tests indicated no increase in the viral load. “This shows that we don’t have a huge wave like at other times of the pandemic spilling over Germany.”
More corona cases again
The General Practitioners Association also called for greater awareness of a possible corona infection. “Currently, more and more practices are taking notice of corona cases,” said the association’s vice president, Nicola Buhlinger-Göpfarth, also to the RND.
As can be seen from a report by the Influenza Working Group at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) from last week, the number of confirmed corona cases is increasing again, albeit at a relatively low level. According to this, in the week up to August 13, around 2,400 people who were diagnosed with Covid-19 were reported nationwide. That’s more than double the week ending July 9, when it was around 1,000.
However, it can be assumed that corona laboratory tests will be carried out primarily in the case of rather severely ill people. Many mild courses are not recorded.