This drop of 29% in seven days is explained in particular by the Easter weekend, according to DREES.
Contaminations are falling, and so are samples. Last week, from April 18 to 24, the number of Covid-19 screening tests plummeted: 2.36 million of them were validated by a health professional over the period, according to data from the Drees, attached to the Ministry of Health. A figure in free fall, down by one million compared to the previous week, or “-29%“.
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Marked by the Easter weekend, the past week has seen a triple move. First, a reduced number of samples were taken on Monday, a public holiday: only 130,000, 80% less than the previous Monday. Tuesday was then the occasion for a slight catch-up, with nearly 600,000 tests. Finally, on the other five days of the week, demand was shy, 20% lower “compared to the same five days of the previous week“, notes the Drees.
In detail, the decline in demand is observed in all age groups, and more particularly among the youngest, who are quicker to carry out antigenic tests than their elders. Another symbol of the notable drop in the demand for tests: last Sunday, for the first time since November 2021, less than 100,000 samples were counted in France in twenty-four hours. A development explained by the presidential election, but which also goes hand in hand with the decline of Covid-19, detected in less than 80,000 people every day in France now.
In total, since mid-June 2020, more than 290 million tests have been carried out in France, the overwhelming majority of which – around 168 million – last year and 30% in the first four months of 2022.
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