A pilot surveillance report of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test results among volunteers in Germany, 1st week of July 2022

We hypothesized that reported SARS-CoV-2 infection numbers are underestimated and piloted a point prevalence by rapid antigen testing in the VACCELERATE volunteer registry. Between July-1 and July-7, 2022, 7/419 (1.67%) tests were positive. Compared to reports of the German Federal Government, our results suggest a 2.39-fold higher prevalence. Our findings imply that the actual prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 may be higher than detected by current surveillance systems, so that current pandemic surveillance and testing strategies need to be adapted.