In view of the rapidly spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus, the laboratory association ALM has warned against overloading PCR tests and therefore a lack of laboratory diagnostics.
Berlin – In view of the rapidly spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus, the ALM laboratory association has warned against overloading PCR tests and therefore a lack of laboratory diagnostics. “In the course of the coming weeks it will become clear how the load develops in the laboratories and whether and in what way further prioritizations are then to be made in the tests,” said the chairman of the Association of Accredited Laboratories in Medicine, Michael Müller Editorial network Germany (Friday). The laboratories belong to the so-called critical infrastructure and are particularly worth protecting.
Müller stated that the laboratories performed a variety of other tasks in addition to corona diagnostics. Like everyone else, employees are affected by the risk of corona infection, currently with Omikron. There are also infections in the laboratories. Given the concern that Omikron could quickly infect many people or have to be quarantined as a contact person, shorter quarantine periods are being debated.
The Marburger Bund doctors’ association warned of possible bottlenecks in PCR tests. “The Omikron variant will also lead to more infections among workers in the laboratories,” said chairwoman Susanne Johna of the RND. “So it is to be expected that the PCR test capacities in Germany will soon only be available to a limited extent.” (dpa)
#Warning #overloading #PCR #tests #due #spread #Omikron #variant