It would be desirable to test every suspected case of corona in the laboratory, but at the moment it is not possible to do this in a timely manner: We must maintain the testing capacities, especially for patients. Therefore, the Robert Koch Institute redefined the case criteria on 24.3.2020.
The criterion "occurrence of symptoms of a respiratory disease" remains an important prerequisite for a laboratory test. Doctors should check this before a referral for PCR pathogen detection is issued.