Rapid corona tests can be manipulated with little effort using acidic drinks. Pupils in Berlin also take advantage of this.
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Cheating for a few days off? This is possible with Capri-Sun. A Berlin school principal considers the trick to be “an open secret.”
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Schoolchildren in Berlin cheat themselves a positive rapid corona test result with the fruit juice drink Capri-Sun, formerly better known as Capri-Sun.
The trick, which is also spreading on TikTok, is considered an open secret in Berlin schoolyards.
According to school principals, Capri-Sun is particularly popular, but it is also possible to falsify the test result with cola, juices and Red Bull.
Berlin. Of course, basically all students want to go to school. But a few days off can sometimes be quite pleasant. As the Morgenpost learned from school principal circles, most Berlin students have long known how they can get a few extra days of vacation: namely with two drops of the popular drink Capri-Sun, formerly better known as Capri-Sun.
Because the fruit juice drink ensures that the rapid tests show a positive result. It is enough to cheat one or two drops of Capri-Sun inconspicuously into the liquid of the Corona rapid test and then dribble it onto the test cassette.
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And you’ll almost certainly get a positive test result – and you can go home for five days. Excuse me, because the isolation certificate comes directly from the health department without a PCR test – which would reveal the fraud.
Corona in Berlin, Germany and the world – more on the topic
Positive corona test with Capri Sonne: an open secret among schoolchildren
“It’s an open secret among the students,” says one principal. “It’s being shared on TikTok and is also a topic during the breaks,” he says. Capri-Sun is popular because it can be used unobtrusively, but it also works with cola, juices and Red Bull.
Nevertheless, fortunately it is only a small part of the students who regularly cheat themselves days off in this way. “However, we now take a closer look if a student has a positive test more often,” says the headmaster, “one of them was very conspicuous, and we then retested him on our own under strict supervision.”
The reason for the incorrect result is a simple chemical process: the acid from the drinks changes the pH value of the test strips. “Antibodies are fixed on the strips of the test, which bend through the acid and thus trigger the color signal,” explains the Neukölln medical officer Nicolai Savaskan. The system is similar for all rapid tests, which is why the falsification by acid also works with a pregnancy test, for example.
Medical officer: hands-on chemistry
Of course, this is not an appropriate use of the tests and is in some ways a form of cheating, school leaders say. Nevertheless, they do not want to hang the little cheating too high. “The vast majority of students want to go to school and are more concerned that they have already missed too much due to Corona,” says a headmaster.
And the medical officer also sees the creativity that the students show: “I would interpret it as positive,” says medical officer Savaskan, “it’s actually chemistry you can touch and it ensures that the students deal with it. This should ideally be taken up right away in class.”
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