Berlin/Cologne/Hamburg, March 08, 2021 – PCR tests are the most reliable method for diagnosing Corona infection. Health offices and physicians are using PCR-tests. Travel abroad, German national league football games and lifting of quarantine are not possible without PCR testing. A positive rapid or self-test must be verified by PCR test. The catch: a swab in the throat and nose is unpleasant, personnel-intensive, and analysis in the laboratory more expensive than the less reliable but now widely available rapid and selftests. Long-time Max Planck director Prof. Hans Lehrach (74) has developed a low-cost PCR gargle test with which the Cologne-based corona test specialist SMARTmed-Test now organizes mass tests throughout Germany. Unilever (including Knorr, Pfanni, Dove, Langnese) is the first company to protect its workforce from Covid-19 using the new method.
Geneticist Lehrach says, “With PCR mass testing, business, schools, universities and government agencies can make a big contribution to containing the pandemic.“
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