Lhe France has never screened its population so much against Covid-19. Nearly a million and a half tests are carried out each day on average, five times more than in the fall of 2020, when the government launched the “test, alert, protect” strategy. If the government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, is pleased with the performance – “the countries which do as well as us can be counted on the fingers of one hand” – professionals are worried about this sustained pace, which could quickly become untenable.
“We managed to hold the shock for adults, but the new school protocol is too heavy,” warns Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France, who warns: “We will not guarantee it for very long. “To the screening of contact and symptomatic cases is now added that of all the students in a class as soon as one of their comrades is positive.
Limited capacities
To cope, Gabriel Attal announced on BFMTV on Sunday January 9 a “plan to strengthen our testing policy”. Concretely, the list of people authorized to do tests will be extended, pharmacists will be able to “create their own screening center” and pooling will be set up near vaccination centers.
Not so easy, answer the professionals. “It’s all well and good to say that we are going to build capacities, but taking samples is not the biggest blockage”, explains Thierry Bouchet, vice-president of the Syndicate of clinical biology laboratories. Laboratories, which perform PCR tests, are limited by their analytical capabilities. “For Biogroup laboratories [dont il est également directeur général, NDLR] in Île-de-France, we do 25,000 PCRs per day, we won’t be able to do more. “
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Same story with pharmacists. Philippe Besset is also not convinced by the government’s proposal to be able to open screening centers in pharmacies. “We don’t have a stock problem, that’s one less worry, but we need staff and premises. We are already doing our best, and we must not forget that our usual work continues alongside. “
The Ministry of Health has asked professionals to prioritize symptomatic, contact cases and positive tests. “Not feasible,” retorts Thierry Bouchet, who estimates that with the very high number of cases – 200,000 per day on average – “everyone is in contact, so everyone has a good reason to go ahead”. “We will do it, but it is possible that we can no longer take the school,” warns Philippe Besset for his part. “There is a lot of demand, but we still manage to assume,” reassures Thierry Bouchet. A concern, however, for the biologist: “This has all been going on for too long and the staff is starting to be exhausted. “