Since the beginning of March (2021), rapid tests are available to the population of Germany, including non-professionals, to enable swift and regionwide testing for SARS-CoV-2 infections. In addition, the city of Halle (Saale) has been offering the option to perform rapid tests free of charge in official testing facilities since the end of February. Furthermore, rapid tests were available for purchase and private use. The DigiHero Study now offers initial insights into said use of self-tests by the inhabitants of Halle (Saale).
From March 26, 2021 to April 1, 2021, almost 3700 participants answered relevant questions for the DigiHero Study. Thirty percent of participants stated to have been tested within the last seven days, using either a rapid test or a PCR test. With help of the city’s age distribution, it can be extrapolated and estimated that around 28% of Halle’s residents were tested in that time.
“This number was higher than expected,” said Professor Mikolajczyk, the leader of the study. “However, the reason for that might be that many participants work in the healthcare sector where rapid tests are often routine. In fact, ‘routine tests by the employer’ was the most common reason cited for testing amongst our participants.”
Seventy participants also tested themselves because of symptoms (standardized estimate for Halle: 1.8%, 95% Cl: 0.5-3.1). Although, of these seventy participants, 10 also had contact with people who already tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. “According to the RKI’s GrippeWeb site around 2.5% of the German population currently has symptoms of a respiratory disease per week – that would indicate that around 70% of people with symptoms had themselves tested,” said Saskia Glasauer.
More than 90% of participants were tested using a rapid test, four of which tested positive. All of those cases were then confirmed by PCR-based tests which on average were conducted within 18 hours after the rapid test result. With the exception of one pending result at the time, all PCR test results were positive.
Over 500 (14%) participants reported that they considered testing for SARS-CoV-2 but ended up not following through. According to the participants themselves, the reason for this was largely due to the lack of available testing options, e.g. because there were no official facilities nearby or because tests were unavailable for purchase. Additionally, lack of time as well as the nessecary effort involved in testing were also cited to have played a significant decision to not get tested.
“The results of our survey show that rapid tests are widely used but not everyone willing to get tested was in a position to conduct one. Besides that, it is of note that an estimated 70% of people in Halle (Saale) with symptoms took a (rapid) test. While rapid is done on asymptomatic people to allow them save meetings and work environments, testing people already exhibiting symptoms is of particular importance in controlling the epidemic. By identifying these individuals early, it is possible to isolate them before they become infectious themselves. This contributes the strongest to reducing infection numbers – and prevents the imminent collapse of the healthcare system,” Mikolajczyk explains.
Data evaluated and interpreted by Saskia Glasauer.
Since the beginning of March (2021), rapid tests are available to the population of Germany, including non-professionals, to enable swift and regionwide testing for SARS-CoV-2 infections. In addition, the city of Halle (Saale) has been offering the option to perform rapid tests free of charge in official testing facilities since the end of February. Furthermore, rapid tests were available for purchase and private use. The DigiHero Study now offers initial insights into said use of self-tests by the inhabitants of Halle (Saale).
From March 26, 2021 to April 1, 2021, almost 3700 participants answered relevant questions for the DigiHero Study. Thirty percent of participants stated to have been tested within the last seven days, using either a rapid test or a PCR test. With help of the city’s age distribution, it can be extrapolated and estimated that around 28% of Halle’s residents were tested in that time.
“This number was higher than expected,” said Professor Mikolajczyk, the leader of the study. “However, the reason for that might be that many participants work in the healthcare sector where rapid tests are often routine. In fact, ‘routine tests by the employer’ was the most common reason cited for testing amongst our participants.”
Seventy participants also tested themselves because of symptoms (standardized estimate for Halle: 1.8%, 95% Cl: 0.5-3.1). Although, of these seventy participants, 10 also had contact with people who already tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. “According to the RKI’s GrippeWeb site around 2.5% of the German population currently has symptoms of a respiratory disease per week – that would indicate that around 70% of people with symptoms had themselves tested,” said Saskia Glasauer.
More than 90% of participants were tested using a rapid test, four of which tested positive. All of those cases were then confirmed by PCR-based tests which on average were conducted within 18 hours after the rapid test result. With the exception of one pending result at the time, all PCR test results were positive.
Over 500 (14%) participants reported that they considered testing for SARS-CoV-2 but ended up not following through. According to the participants themselves, the reason for this was largely due to the lack of available testing options, e.g. because there were no official facilities nearby or because tests were unavailable for purchase. Additionally, lack of time as well as the nessecary effort involved in testing were also cited to have played a significant decision to not get tested.
“The results of our survey show that rapid tests are widely used but not everyone willing to get tested was in a position to conduct one. Besides that, it is of note that an estimated 70% of people in Halle (Saale) with symptoms took a (rapid) test. While rapid is done on asymptomatic people to allow them save meetings and work environments, testing people already exhibiting symptoms is of particular importance in controlling the epidemic. By identifying these individuals early, it is possible to isolate them before they become infectious themselves. This contributes the strongest to reducing infection numbers – and prevents the imminent collapse of the healthcare system,” Mikolajczyk explains.
Data evaluated and interpreted by Saskia Glasauer.