The test is still not intended for laypeople at home. The ABDA emphasizes that the tests can only be carried out in pharmacies and medical facilities by trained personnel.
Rapid antigen test or laboratory test?
Rapid antigen tests, also known as point-of-care tests (PoC tests), do not require sample preparation and are carried out and evaluated directly on the test subjects. The PCR test was previously better known. It should detect the pathogen directly, the smear in the nose and throat is analyzed in the laboratory. It is designed to diagnose or rule out an infection and then isolate those infected. It can take up to two days for the results to be announced – depending on the workload of the laboratories, it can also take longer.
The situation is different with the antigen test: It looks for molecules that are characteristic of the virus and can detect an infection within a few minutes. A test strip, similar to a pregnancy test, shows whether the person tested is positive. They are significantly less reliable than the laboratory tests, but the EU Commission recommends their use to expand the test capacities in the fight against the pandemic. The chief virologist at the Berlin Charité, Christian Drosten, also advocated the use of antigen tests.
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