1 – What is a saliva test?
It’s a test says “non invasive”, unlike the classic antigen test or RT-PCR with a swab that is put in the nose. Here it is about spitting into a container. A much less unpleasant technique, and therefore easier to get the little ones to accept.
2 – Will there be any in all Normandy schools from Monday?
Non. Already, only nursery and primary schools will receive them for the moment. And for Calvados and Orne, less than a dozen schools will start testing this week. Two Calvados schools, Haie Vigné school in Caen and a school at Herouville will do their first tests Thursday, indicates the rectorate. In the Orne, five schools in the agglomeration of L’Aigle were chosen to be the first to test, “midweek”. These establishments have been chosen “because that’s where the virus is currently circulating the most”, specifies the rectorate. The tests will arrive little by little in the coming weeks, in the schools of the former Lower Normandy.
3 – Do I have to give my consent to have my child tested?
Yes. This is also partly why it does not start this Monday. Schools will have to distribute parental authorization forms to each child before they are tested, and then harvest them, to determine how many children volunteer and how many tests to perform.
4 – Who carries out the tests in Calvados and Orne?
The academic management of Normandy explains that each test session in a school will be supervised by two people: a school health staff, and medical analysis laboratory staff which has signed an agreement with the National Education to come and supervise the children and collect the samples. But with only 90 school nurses in Calvados and around 30 in Orne, reinforcements will be needed. The rectorate launched the recruitment of 20 people on fixed-term contracts called “mediators” to strengthen the contingent. These will be health students or nursing staff, recruited until May. The offers were published at the end of the week on the websites of the National Education and recruitments were “still in progress” Friday.
5 – Will the school have access to my child’s results?
The vials, once collected, are sent to Medical analysis laboratory, which provides the results in 24 hours to the parents. The school is not informed which child is positive, but will know how many tests came back positive. Parents are responsible for removing their child from school to isolate him in the event of contamination.
6 – Are these tests reliable?
In its opinion issued at the end of January, the High Authority for Health validated these tests by explaining that they have a sensitivity estimated at 85%. It is 3% to 11% lower to that of tests RT-PCR nasopharyngés. They are therefore less effective.
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