Test rush across France. More than 6.2 million screening tests were carried out the week of December 13 to 19, a record, according to the Ministry of Health. In a Parisian laboratory where the TF1 teams have visited, it is now by appointment. Because there is too much traffic to manage and therefore risks of contamination. “On the day yesterday, we had 113 PCRs of which 19 were positive”, indicates the biologist Laurence Grandvoinnet in the report at the head of the article. A request for PCR which, in one month, was multiplied by eight at the scale of the 600 laboratories of this group. “We are reaching peaks, records both in the volume of tests and in both positivity. People need either a test to be reassured or a test to diagnose”, explains medical director Michel Sala.
Same motivation on the sidewalk of this neighboring pharmacy. The candidates for the antigen test parade: “We have great-uncles and aunts, we have grandparents, so we are careful. For my part, I was in contact last week, so you have to be very very vigilant, especially with transport and work”. The Scientific Council has indeed underlined the importance of being tested before December 24. Problem, pharmacies are struggling to provide self-tests. At 5.20 euros the unit not reimbursed, the precious sesame is however nowhere to be found. “We were robbed. People rushed over it, which is normal. So there we have more, we will only receive it at the end of the week”.
According to the pharmacists’ union, the rupture concerns 2/3 of pharmacies in France. In a village in the Lyon suburbs, residents on the waiting list are hoping for delivery of their orders. “We are waiting for them, because we have ordered them since last week and they still have not arrived. I am waiting for 400 tests and I already have 250 or 300 in reservation”, specifies a pharmacist.