Should we launch a mass screening of the French population before the Christmas holidays? This strategic question, which divides scientists, has become a subject of political controversy between the executive and the opposition. Offensive, the right is campaigning for tests for Covid-19 nationwide, in order to limit the risks of contamination during family reunions. “We must launch a major screening campaign, extended to the entire population, with antigen tests performed before and after the holidays”, pleads the boss of the deputies The Republicans (LR), Damien Abad.
On December 8, his group presented a deconfinement plan to the Assembly, providing for screening « massif » between December 18 and 24, then between January 6 and 13, associated with the management of isolation at the hotel. No way “Christmas and New Years’ Day be one “French Thanksgiving” », said Mr. Abad, in reference to the epidemic outbreak that is following the great American family celebration.
A message carried in the ranks of the right, in particular by the presidents of the regions. In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Laurent Wauquiez announced, on December 10, a massive free screening campaign for the 8 million inhabitants of his territory before Christmas. More than 2 million tests have been ordered and 1,300 sampling centers deployed for the occasion. In the Grand Est, Jean Rottner also calls on the government to “Review your copy”, by developing saliva tests.
“France must be flooded with antigenic nasopharyngeal tests”, agrees Renaud Muselier, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, judging that the deployment of these rapid tests, which give a result in nearly twenty minutes, would be an advantage over the PCR tests, which require on average twenty-four a forty-eight hour wait. In his eyes, carrying out grouped tests across the country would be a trump card in controlling the epidemic and avoiding the risk of a third wave. To prevent “Asymptomatic carriers escape isolation”, this argument was also defended by a collective of doctors, in a forum at the World published in early September.
On Monday, the scientific council approved this strategy. In a review, experts recommend first “Self-containment” for a week to those who wish to spend holidays with the family, but also call for resorting, if necessary, to tests on the Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday before Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
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