Self-tests soon available in pharmacies … Minister of Health Oliver Veran has advertised on Gross Friday April 2 than Covid-19 self-testing will be available in pharmacies from April 12, 2021 for “who wish to buy it”. The Minister nevertheless specified that the product would not be available in supermarkets in France, despite the demands of large-scale distribution, since it is indeed a “health product”. “There must be a health professional who can sell these tests, explain how they work, it’s not that simple” he justified. In addition, Oliver Véran pointed out that he would simply be a “useful supplement”. Indeed, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) has given the green light for the deployment of these self-tests, but in his notice published on March 16, it specifies that any positive self-test must then be confirmed by an RT-PCR test, in particular to be able to count it as a positive case and to characterize a possible variant.
Slightly easier and less unpleasant tests
These nasal self-sampling tests are a bit easier and less disagreeable than deep nasopharyngeal tests, the gold standard for current RT-PCR and antigen testing.
According to the latest figures from Public Health France, 5,254 Covid patients are currently placed in intensive care, or 505 more compared to the day before, and 303 patients have died from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. A total of 28,729 people are currently hospitalized because of the coronavirus, an additional 2,092 in 24 hours.
While Emmanuel Macron announced the closure of schools, colleges and high schools for three weeks from Friday, April 2 in the evening, the number of classes closed due to cases of coronavirus had more than tripled in one week, rising to more than 11,000, according to the Ministry of National Education.
>>> Click here to discover Brut’s publication on Covid-19 self-testing
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