1,405 positive Corona rapid tests at schools last week

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Between Friday last week and this Thursday, 1.7 million “Nasenbohrertest” (nose-picking tests) were conducted at schools, and 1,405 were positive, according to the Ministry of Education.

Since the previous week, schools have been testing not just twice but three times a week to detect Sars-CoV-2 infections. However, in Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, the first Friday test was cancelled because of the state holiday.

1,405 Corona rapid tests at schools positive
Among those cases identified by rapid antigen test between last Friday and this Thursday, the majority were schoolchildren (1,130). Another 275 cases were detected among teaching and administrative staff, who can test in the process in addition to weekly occupational group testing. The proportion of positive results is 0.08 percent among all those tested, the same as in previous weeks. The results of the current round of testing, which took place today (Friday), are not yet available to the Ministry of Education.

Most cases detected in Vienna

There were increases in the first week with three tests, however, in Lower Austria (from 195 in the previous week to 234), in Upper Austria (this time 147 after 139 in the previous week), as well as in Burgenland (61 after 49 in the previous week). In Salzburg, on the other hand, fewer positives were detected despite the third round of testing (down from 100 the previous week to 82 this time).

The numbers increased in those provinces where no third round of testing took place because of the school holiday Friday and where the numbers are therefore directly comparable: In Styria, there have been 145 positive nose-picking tests since last Friday (previous week: 134), in Carinthia 61 (previous week: 53), in Tyrol 60 (previous week: 43) and in Vorarlberg 16 (previous week: 6). Across Austria, 23 schools (previous week: 24) are currently closed by the authorities due to clustered Corona cases.

40 percent of antigen tests false-positive
According to the Viennese health authorities, as a rule 40 percent of the antigen tests are false-positive, i.e. the result is not confirmed by the more conclusive PCR test. Conversely, the “nose-picking” tests used do not detect all infected individuals by a long shot. In the current run of the school gargle study, between one fifth and one quarter of the cases identified by PCR test were also detected by the rapid tests performed by the students themselves.