According to Bettel’s answer, there is no strategy for rapid tests yet. The Prime Minister explained that discussions are currently underway to determine under what conditions rapid antigen tests and self-tests could possibly be used more widely for certain activities, such as shopping, visiting restaurants or cultural events.
However, such a model could only be implemented in close cooperation with the municipalities.
More generally, the government recommends that people should always carry out a rapid self-test if they cannot or do not want to avoid a potentially risky contact, for example, when visiting vulnerable people.
In this sense, the government welcomes the fact that rapid self-tests are now also increasingly available in supermarkets, in addition to pharmacies, where they have been sold for some time already. The only requirement is that the tests have a “CE” label.
As far as the pilot projects carried out by the National Health Directorate in the cultural sector are concerned, the rapid tests are said to have been well received and carrying them out in time posed no problems. In case of a negative rapid test result, no infection was documented, even if the PCR test performed at the same time was still weakly positive.
A negative rapid antigen test result, combined with the necessary protective and hygiene measures, could thus potentially be a way to organise cultural events with a certain degree of safety. During sporting events, too, rapid tests may help to avoid infection chains.
The government has ordered 7.9 million rapid tests to date.
