Mélina Facchin 7:33 p.m., January 17, 2022
Near Nancy, a "drive test" reopened on Monday morning to alleviate the overload that weighs on pharmacies.
Patients can get tested there without getting out of their car.
A time saver, but also a way to avoid contamination in queues or inside sometimes cramped pharmacies.
Faced with the resurgence of Covid-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant, pharmacies, a privileged place since the start of the pandemic to be tested, are all taken by storm.
To increase the rate of tests, a kind of center has been relaunched by the health authorities: the "drive tests".
Those who wish can get tested while staying in their cars.
In Tomblaine, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, the "drive test" reopened this Monday morning in the parking lot of the Marcel-Picot stadium.
>> READ ALSO -
Vaccination pass, end of the epidemic, anti-Covid drug ... An infectious disease specialist takes stock
At the wheel of her car, Manon, who lives a few kilometers from the test center, only has to roll down her window to get tested.
"I was in a pharmacy. They told me that they didn't take lunch and they advised me to go to the stadium because they were driving. I find it very practical because we don't don't get out of the car. If it's cold right now, not getting out is fine."
A warm wait that limits contamination
This Covid version drive offers antigen tests, PCR and even saliva tests for children.
The objective, for its manager Thierry Pechey, is to unclog the other screening centers.
"It was enough to pass in front of pharmacies or labs lately to see that the queue was sometimes very long. In the car, we limit contamination between professionals and between people as much as possible. And wait in a car, it's still more pleasant than waiting for hours in a queue outside", he explains at the microphone of Europe 1.
For now, this brand new drive is not yet taken by storm.
It is also an advantage.
For the first day, a hundred tests have already been carried out.