In downtown Frankfurt, there is now another straightforward way to get tested for the coronavirus. The company CENTOGENE has opened a walk-in COVID 19 test center centrally in Frankfurt's city center, directly in the MyZeil shopping center. Following similar test centers that CENTOGENE has been operating since June at airports in Frankfurt, Hamburg or Berlin, among others, the company now offers further access to reliable and rapid SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing for the general public.
Centogene N.V. (Nasdaq: CNTG), a commercial company specializing in rare disease diagnostics that uses clinical and genetic data to clarify medical issues for patients, physicians and pharmaceutical companies, will open the walk-in COVID-19 testing center in the MyZeil shopping center on Dec. 19. Until further notice, it will then be open Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Currently, the test center has a capacity for up to 1,500 PCR tests daily, which can be easily and quickly adapted to a further increase in demand. Those interested in SARS-CoV-2 testing from the greater Frankfurt area and beyond can register in advance without an appointment via Corona's secure testing portal ( https://corona.centogene.com/login ) or register online directly on site.
The offer is aimed at self-payers at a price of 69 euros. The payment of the PCR tests is exclusively contactless and secure via the Corona test portal or by EC card on site. A throat swab is then taken by trained staff, the results of which are provided via the web-based portal within 24 hours in 95% of cases.
"It is our fundamental belief that the rising infection figures of recent months can be effectively halted by nationwide testing. The renewed nationwide lockdown is another hard blow to our society and economy. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have considered it our duty to help effectively contain the incidence of infection through preventive testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, thus enabling the economy and social life to resume as soon as possible. In order to make reliable and rapid COVID-19 testing easily accessible to the general public, we are today expanding our inner-city services to Frankfurt, following the successful opening of testing centers in Wiesbaden and Berlin," said Dr. Volkmar Weckesser, Executive Representative for COVID-19 at CENTOGENE.
"We are pleased to continue our very close collaboration with CENTOGENE in the context of SARS-CoV-2 testing, so far mainly in Bavaria, but recently also in Berlin, now also in Frankfurt. It is a particular concern of ours to substantially expand the scarce capacities nationwide by adding another inner-city test center," added Peter Bristot, Managing Director of 21Dx GmbH.
Info about the test
.Used in this test center is the CENTOGENEs SARS-CoV-2 test, a molecular diagnostic test for the qualitative in vitro detection of RNA from the SARS-CoV-2 virus using oropharyngeal specimens from pre-symptomatic patients and volunteers according to the tests recommended by health authority guidelines. The test has also been validated at CENTOGENE's CAP/CLIA/ISO certified analytical laboratory and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for use by authorized laboratories.
Samples are collected by medically trained personnel using the CentoSwab™, a CE-certified two-component swab blade for collecting oropharyngeal specimens. The samples are then taken to a CENTOGENE laboratory for analysis. Results are communicated to test center visitors via CENTOGENE's Corona testing portal - a secure digital platform that follows strict privacy measures in accordance with the current guidelines of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The testing portal is connected to the Corona alert app to enable early detection of further infections and potential outbreaks.
