Le Havre.

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On the eve of the launch of a massive Covid-19 screening campaign in Le Havre, the mayor of the city Edouard Philippe estimated that the number of people tested would undoubtedly be less than 50%, in an interview with the

Journal du Dimanche.

“I don't set myself a goal.

In Liverpool, they managed to test about a third of the 500,000 residents in four days.

If we tested 50% of the population, I would be the happiest of men!

We will undoubtedly be below, ”said the former Prime Minister.

“If we can find a significant number of people, we are bound to find asymptomatic cases.

(…) And, thus, we will avoid transmissions ”, he added, considering that“ we must all be responsible towards our friends, our family ”.

A five-day campaign

Massive voluntary screening will be carried out in four cities before and after Christmas, a first in France, to improve the “test-alert-protect” strategy.

In Le Havre, the campaign will start on Monday.

The Minister of Health Olivier Véran estimated Friday that these tests were not however “a totem of immunity”.

To which the mayor of Le Havre replied that the tests should not prevent "continuing to respect barrier gestures".

In Le Havre, the campaign will last five days and will be largely based on antigenic tests.

“The idea is to offer the 270,000 inhabitants of the 54 municipalities of the urban community of Le Havre to come and be tested, without an appointment and free of charge, with a result within half an hour,” said Edouard Philippe.

A pilot operation scrutinized

To accommodate as many people as possible, more than 50 sites will be opened in pharmacies, laboratories and medical practices, as well as 20 centers designed to accommodate several hundred people per day.

"250 students from the nursing school, but also pharmacists, doctors, civil protection, the Red Cross" were mobilized, said the former Prime Minister, adding that tests will also be offered to staff National Education in all schools, and all students in four high schools.

To explain the choice of his city for this pilot operation, Edouard Philippe recalled that during the second wave, the agglomeration of Le Havre had been "the most affected in Normandy, with an incidence rate of over 500 per 100,000 in time of peak ”, the figures having since decreased.

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  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Edouard Philippe

  • The haven

  • Health