The upsurge in the number of coronavirus cases continues in France. If we still do not evoke a "second wave", several indicators have gone orange in some departments. On Monday, Jean Castex called on the French to "not lower their guard" in the face of Covid-19 to avoid "generalized reconfinement". The Prime Minister mentioned in particular the wearing of a mask, mandatory in more and more municipalities outside. Another way to stop the spread of the virus: screening. But in several departments where the virus is circulating, it is difficult to get tested.
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An exploding demand
For a week now, all French people can be tested without a prescription and for free. Result: demand has exploded and the laboratories in town are overwhelmed. There is a shortage of staff to do these tests and the results are long overdue. Delays which have consequences according to Gilles Pialoux, head of the infectious diseases department at Tenon hospital in Paris.
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"It's worrying. The first wave was all the more aggressive because we didn't know where the infected people were," he explains. "We lost track of the epidemic in the Oise and Haut-Rhin, then in Île-de-France. Frankly, we don't want to relive that." More generally, more and more epidemiologists are calling for a more proactive testing policy. And they even put forward solutions.
More anticipation and personnel
According to Gilles Pialoux, we have to anticipate a lot more. First step forward: give priority to patients who already have symptoms. Second axis: use massive screening in targeted places as explained by François Blanchecotte, national president of the union of biologists. "In my opinion, we must go to the front of the French populations, in collective gatherings, in places of leisure in which people have perhaps a little less distance and wearing of masks. We can make a mapping on our departments places with the préfet and the ARS to try to develop that. "
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The other urgency remains to hire staff to multiply the samples and move up a gear. Just before the deconfinement, Edouard Philippe promised 700,000 tests per week. Three months later, the capacity is still only 500,000 tests.