The Toulouse University Hospital opens a Covid-19 screening drive

• To avoid a new wave after the deconfinement, a policy of mass screening of possible patients with Covid-19, and those with whom they have been in contact, is implemented.
• To carry out these tests, a screening drive will be set up by the Toulouse University Hospital from next week.
• Its virology laboratory will be able to carry out up to 3,000 daily tests, with results in 12 or 24 hours depending on the emergency.

From Monday, during symptoms suggestive of Covid-19, it will be possible to be tested on medical prescription. At the end of April, Edouard Philippe had specified that the objective was to carry out 700,000 virological tests per week. This Thursday, Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, estimated that France was ready to test massively while the deconfinement is looming.

LIVE - Coronavirus: "France is ready to massively test", says Véran https://t.co/KVIeC8bQIp pic.twitter.com/tpUVEugzHH

In Toulouse, this can be done in conventional laboratories. But also from Tuesday in a "drive" set up by the Toulouse University Hospital. There, provided with their prescription, the inhabitants of the metropolis can be screened, while staying in their car.

The new virology platform of the CHU will be able to perform 3000 COVID + PCR tests per day from Monday, May 11 as part of a mass screening. Explanations with Dr. Jean Michel Mansuy # virology #depistage # Deconfinement11Mai #hopital #Toulouse pic.twitter.com/OLx7GMYjqQ

“The virology laboratory has prepared itself to be able to increase its capacities and carry out these PCR tests. On average, we perform 500 to 600 per day, from May 11, we can do up to 3,000 per day, with results within 12 to 24 hours, with a priority for isolated patients, "said Jacques Izopet, head of the virology department.

This drive will be open Monday to Friday, from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm, at the U2000 building of the Purpan hospital, whose entrance is via Place Baylac. If booking an appointment by phone (05 61 77 66 66) starts on Monday, the physical tests will actually take place on Tuesday.

“The laboratory is also preparing for another stage, that of serological tests, which are currently not approved. As soon as they are delivered and the reagents are delivered, we believe we have the capacity to be able to make up to 1,000 per day, ”continues Professor Izopet.

Don't be falsely reassured

A means to contain a possible new wave of cases. On Thursday, of the 1,600 patients hospitalized at the CHU, 57 were hospitalized due to the coronavirus epidemic and 15 Covid-19 positive patients were in intensive care. “The last serious cases taken care of in Purpan arrived 23 days ago in Purpan and ten days in Rangueil. Some have been hospitalized for 40 days, serious cases whose prognosis is still uncertain, others are being ventilated, ”underlines Béatrice Riu, head of the multipurpose resuscitation service at Purpan hospital.

[# COVID19 # 8May] An extended but confined weekend! Each of us must maintain the rigor we have shown in recent weeks. Final stretch before a progressive and reversible deconfinement. # AllMobilized!

But faced with this thinning, "we must not be falsely reassured," warns Pierre Delobel, head of the department of infectious and tropical diseases. “The virus continues to circulate, during the last 24 hours we have had three hospitalizations within the service. What will be key will be good screening, social distancing, wearing a mask and to what extent it will be applied, ”warns the practitioner four days after deconfinement.

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