Covid-19: the number of screening tests at the lowest since December 2020


Less than 1.7 million samples were counted last week. A decline that goes hand in hand with that of contamination.

The decline continues. Last week, according to data from Drees, attached to the Ministry of Health, the number of Covid-19 screening tests validated by a professional fell again. In constant decline since the beginning of April, it has fallen back below the two million mark – 1.7 million, precisely.

In one month, the total number of samples has collapsed by 55%, following, in this, the curve of Covid-19 cases. The total recorded last week is the lowest since… December 2020.”The number of tests is down for all age groups“, specifies the Drees, with declines of more than 15% in five age groups, and 20% among 16-25 year olds.

Part of the decline is explained by the presence of May 8, but the effect remains contained, this holiday falling on a Sunday, a period when pharmacies and laboratories are traditionally less in demand. The decline is constant: no day of the last week recorded more than 400,000 samples, the maximum amounting to 364,000 on Monday. With only 66,873 tests, May 8 was also the least busy day since the end of June 2021.

The rate therefore decreases sharply. In April, 12.65 million tests were counted, the lowest since last November and the emergence of the Omicron variant. The year 2022 remains marked by massive demand: in just five months, this has recorded 31% of all the nearly 295 million direct debits recorded since mid-June 2020.

For the time being, despite green indicators in all health areas, the executive believes that the “acute phaseof the current wave is still not over. If the mask will no longer be compulsory in public transport from Monday, “we can’t say that the Covid is behind us“, nuanced Olivier Véran, on BFMTV, this Thursday morning. The circulation of the virus remains in particular too high to reintegrate non-vaccinated caregivers, suspended for several months, added the Minister of Health. “On the other hand, I seize the High authority of healthon this issue, he said.


SEE ALSO – The Covid-19 pandemic had caused between 13 and 17 million deaths by the end of 2021, according to the WHO



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