Meetings with the family are among the most important situations in which Poles see the need to ensure safety. This should come as no surprise: 59% of them worry that a loved one will get COVID-19, and 49% worry that they will get it themselves. The solution, especially in the context of the upcoming Christmas, would be to test for SARS-CoV-2 before the meeting. According to the report “A sense of security in the new normality” prepared by Siemens Healthineers, 47% of Poles agree that in this way we would ensure ourselves and our loved ones a sense of security.
December is the time of Christmas meetings with your loved ones, which will be held with COVID-19 in the background for the second year in a row. In the meantime, the pandemic has ceased to be a “state of emergency” and has become the “new normal”. Rather, we should not expect, as a society, to undertake the sacrifice of limiting contact with family and friends. But the SARS-CoV-2 virus has not gone away. Therefore, when planning Christmas meetings, it is worth remembering about the possibility of performing tests, thanks to which we will significantly reduce the risk of virus transmission. Looking at it more broadly, building the habit of self-testing in similar social situations would be a huge support for the fight against the pandemic. – says Joanna Miłachowska, President of Siemens Healthineers in Poland.
According to a report prepared by Siemens Healthineers, COVID-19 polarizes Polish society. On the one hand, a quarter of Poles claim that it is not a serious disease, so it makes no sense to get vaccinated or tested. On the other hand, for half of us, COVID-19 is a source of anxiety. Why we do not feel safe is largely due to the behavior of other people with whom we come into contact on a daily basis – many of us (64%) believe that Poles lack a sense of responsibility for the health of others. Almost half (45%) are also afraid that the people they meet, who do not have visible symptoms, may unknowingly infect us with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We are also concerned about infection from people we know are vaccinated (45%).
Among various social situations, meetings with loved ones occupy a special place because they are accompanied by a sense of security – this is the nature of closeness, after all. In times of a pandemic, however, it may turn out to be deceptive. We must accept the thought that among our relatives there may be a person infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, who has no symptoms and may unknowingly infect others. It can also be a vaccinated person. We will only find out about this if we perform tests – says Jarosław Wyligała, director of the Siemens Healthineers Laboratory Diagnostics industry in Poland.
As a society, we are aware that meetings with loved ones should be associated with exceptional efforts for safety. They were mentioned by Poles among the five most important situations that require special care to minimize the risk of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. No wonder – 6 out of 10 Poles are afraid that some of their relatives will get COVID-19. We also see the importance of performing tests before meeting with loved ones. 47% of Poles agree that making sure they are not infected would give their loved ones a sense of security. One-third are ready to perform tests before each contact with loved ones – as far as they can do so.
Our experience with SARS-CoV-2 testing to date, however, is limited. So far, only 41% of Poles have gone through them, of which only 14% more than once. A positive phenomenon is that in the group of people who passed the tests, 30% did it on their own initiative. However, there is still a long way to go from there to developing the habit of testing before meeting more people – adds Joanna Miłachowska.
So far, Poles who have tested themselves on their own initiative have most often done it preventively, before a trip or in connection with symptoms of a disease. Only a small proportion (23%) of tests performed on their own initiative were aimed at ensuring safety during meetings with loved ones. We also do not use the potential of self-control. Only 12% of people who had at least one experience with tests did it themselves at home. We agree, however, that self-control could provide a greater level of security in social life. Therefore, as many as 53% of Poles believe that, as a society, we need more education and promotion of active, independent testing.
It is worth emphasizing self-control in educational activities, which opens up great opportunities to reduce the risk of infections in social life. Self-test antigen tests can be performed anywhere and do not require any medical training. Each adult can do it on their own and get to know the result within a dozen or so minutes. At the same time, they are many times cheaper than a similar service in the laboratory – says Maciej Matus, head of the diagnostics department at Point of Care Siemens Healthineers in Poland.
When choosing an antigen test for self-monitoring, its confirmed quality is of great importance, which has a decisive influence on the reliability of the obtained results.
When choosing a test, it is worth paying attention to its high sensitivity (the higher the sensitivity, the greater the chance of obtaining a positive result in the case of a real infection and minimizing the risk of giving a false negative result) and specificity (the higher the specificity, the lower the risk of a false positive result). In addition, it is worth verifying whether the test is suitable for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients who usually have a lower viral load. Such information should be included in the test performance instruction / method sheet. Only this type of product will provide us with reliable and accurate results – adds Maciej Matus.
A reliable tool that can significantly help reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus, but also enable everyone to make informed decisions by providing information about possible infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus is the CLINITEST® Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test distributed by Siemens Healthineers. The test is based on a swab from the front of the nose. With 97,25% sensitivity and 100% specificity, it delivers accurate and reliable results in just 15 minutes. The test can be easily purchased at https://shop-clinitest.siemens-healthineers.com/en_gb/.
The “Sense of Security in the New Normal” report was prepared by Siemens Healthcare Sp. z o. o. based on a survey conducted by SW RESEARCH Agencja Badań Rynku i Opinii on 26.10-03.11.2021, covering 1005 respondents from a nationwide group of Poles over 18 years of age.
The publication is available on the website https://www.siemens-healthineers.com/pl/news/poczucie-bezpieczenstwa-w-nowej-normalnosci.
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