In the West department of France, where the Regional Health Agency counts seven clusters and a total of around 300 cases of coronavirus, a massive screening campaign was launched on Monday, via "drives" but also centers pedestrians. The goal: to avoid a new epidemic of coronavirus. 

The coronavirus is actively circulating in Mayenne. The Regional Health Agency counts seven epidemic foci grouping around a hundred positive cases, and a total of nearly 300 cases throughout the department. To avoid a new epidemic wave, a massive screening campaign was launched on Monday in Laval and its metropolitan area, where the main clusters are located.

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"Increase our screening capacities" 

No less than 5,000 vouchers have been sent since Saturday, by email or in the mailboxes of residents of Laval and Huisserie, a neighboring town. This voucher serves as a prescription and allows you to go, without paying, to the existing drive tests. The latter allow mass testing of the Mayennais, without them getting out of their car. 

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"We have increased the daily time slots", explains Benoît James, from the ARS of the Pays de la Loire. "We have also increased the screening lines. Until now, there were two lines of cars, and here we are going to add a third. We are in rates which remain extremely important, so we will really multiply our screening capabilities ". The "drive tests" are open every day, by appointment. 

Tests without advance of costs, covered by Health Insurance

Two new pedestrian sites are also opening Monday morning, still in the city, and will offer screening for everyone from the age of ten, also seven days a week, but without an appointment. The objective: to ensure up to 60,000 tests, thanks to the national health reserve and the civil protection mobilized.

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Whether carried out in "drive" or in pedestrian sites, the tests are free of charge, fully covered by Health Insurance. The massive screening system should extend to the municipalities in the south of the department, then to the rest of Mayenne if the health situation does not improve.