Laboratories in Berlin and Brandenburg reach their capacity limits when evaluating PCR tests
Evaluation of PCR tests
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Laboratories in Berlin and Brandenburg are reaching their capacity limits
Tue 07.12.21 | 2:57 pm | from
Laboratories that evaluate PCR tests in Berlin and Brandenburg are reaching their capacity limits. This can have consequences for the contact tracking of sick people and also for people who spontaneously need a PCR test – for example when traveling. From Helena Daehler
The utilization of the Berlin and Brandenburg laboratories is close to or already above the capacity limit when it comes to evaluating PCR tests. An employee of the Accredited Laboratories in Medicine (ALM) told the rbb. In Brandenburg it is 114 percent. In Berlin it is currently more than 74 percent (minus nine percent). ALM collects the data for the laboratories on a weekly basis. “It would be possible that Berlin laboratories are now taking samples from Brandenburg,” said the employee.
No time for interviews
At the request of the rbb, the laboratory IFLb Laboratoriumsmedizin Berlin-Charlottenburg is asked to work on the evaluation of the samples seven days a week, including overnight, because you can hardly keep up with the processing. In some cases, this also means a delay in the transmission of the findings.
It looks like in Labor Berlin, which evaluates PCR tests from large Berlin clinics. “We are also currently working at our capacity limit or beyond,” a spokeswoman for the rbb wrote by email. There was no time for an interview due to the high workload in both laboratories. The test capacity has increased significantly compared to the previous year – from approx. 60,000 to over 80,000 per week.
Consequences for contact follow-up
The high workload of the laboratories has partly consequences for the follow-up of contacts in the health authorities. In Spandau, with a currently very high 7-day incidence of 449.5, there are necessary time delays: ten days, “says Oliver Gellert, district councilor from Spandau about the current situation in the health department in his district.
Even travelers who need a PCR test that is as up-to-date as possible, when and sometimes wait longer for the result.
21 percent of the tests were positive
With roughly constant numbers of requested PCR tests (1,802,201 to 1,838,396 in the previous week – that’s minus two percent), the number of positive results nationwide in the past week of 377,613 is about the same as in the previous week (389,421) stayed, according to a press release from ALM on Tuesday.
The numbers come from the current data analysis from calendar week 48 (November 29th – December 5th, 2021). As in the last few weeks, 179 laboratories took part in the data collection. Their utilization is on average at 82 percent (previous week: 85 percent) and thus, as it is said, still at the load limit – and in many regions well above it. A total of 21 percent of the tests carried out are said to have been positive. In the previous week, the positive rate was similarly high at 21.2 percent.
Laboratories fear travel volumes over Christmas
Meanwhile, workers are concerned about the expected volume of travel over the Christmas season. Current negative PCR tests are now required for people traveling to countries such as Great Britain or Switzerland.
This could exacerbate the situation for the laboratories even more. At Labor Berlin, however, one is proactive so that this will not have any effects, says a spokeswoman for the rbb. “Of course, we want to ensure the SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics of the major Berlin clinics over the holidays as well.”
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