Free PoC Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in Germany: Factors Expanding Access to Various Communities in a Medium-Sized City

Anna Kristina Witte, Janina Grosch, Beate Conrady, Lena Schomakers and Marcus Grohmann
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Anna Kristina Witte: HTK Hygiene Technologie Kompetenzzentrum GmbH, Heinrichstr. 6, 96047 Bamberg, Germany
Janina Grosch: HTK Hygiene Technologie Kompetenzzentrum GmbH, Heinrichstr. 6, 96047 Bamberg, Germany
Beate Conrady: Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1870 Frederiksberg, Denmark
Lena Schomakers: HTK Hygiene Technologie Kompetenzzentrum GmbH, Heinrichstr. 6, 96047 Bamberg, Germany
Marcus Grohmann: HTK Hygiene Technologie Kompetenzzentrum GmbH, Heinrichstr. 6, 96047 Bamberg, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: During the third wave of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic in Germany, free SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) point-of-care (PoC) antigen tests were offered to citizens at least once a week to prevent spreading by asymptomatic infected individuals. This study investigated user groups, timing, frequency, and test center locations in a typical medium-sized European city. We analyzed 27,369 pseudonymized datasets from eight centers over 12 weeks. Those were evaluated according to age, residence, appointment, and potential repeated test occurrence. The centers were visited by different groups; some centers were preferred by a predominantly younger demographic, whereas a mobile option attracted an older age group by reaching districts with few other testing possibilities. Elderly individuals were tested more spontaneously than younger individuals, and a test center at a ‘park and ride’ had more spontaneous visitors from outside of the city compared to other test locations. Only a small proportion of less than 4% came for testing more than five times. To preferably address many people for voluntary antigen testing, it is crucial to offer different test opportunities accounting for individual behavioral patterns, despite this requiring more complex and costly design than conventional forms.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2 point-of-care antigen tests; COVID-19 pandemic; testing strategy; testing behavior; Bürgertest; German citizen testing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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