BERLIN, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A German virologist on Tuesday called for better use of coronavirus tests as the number of tests in Germany may not be able to be increased.
"We have to look now to test where it is really necessary," said Christian Drosten, head of the Institute of Virology at the Charite University Hospital in Berlin, in a daily podcast by German broadcaster NDR on Tuesday.
According to Drosten, high-risk patients, such as elderly or previously ill people, should "preferably" be tested.
Around 350,000 tests for coronavirus were carried out in Germany in each of the last two weeks of March, according to the figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention.
Hospitals usually have "two major fields of application" for diagnostics, with one being the patients and the other, hospital staff. But the virologist also stressed the application of tests for "diagnostics in the open space".
High-risk patients who had tested positive for the virus could be placed in home quarantine, but should not be admitted to hospitals too late in case of worsening of symptoms, said Drosten.
However, the communication structures for the availability of tests and for whom the tests would be performed needed to be improved in Germany, according to the virologist. The "most promising means" to monitor and regulate the phases of the spread was the use of electronic aids, especially mobile phone apps, said Drosten.
On Tuesday, RKI launched an app to better monitor the spread of the new coronavirus in Germany. The app was available for iOS and Android devices under the name "corona data donation" and would work on digital fitness wristbands and smartwatches from various manufacturers.
