EPIDEMIC: Of the 30,780 coronavirus tests carried out in Le Havre, 350 were positive
Nearly 31,000 tests were carried out between December 14 and 19 in Le Havre, or 11% of the population of the agglomeration. These tests were carried out during the “massive” Covid-19 screening operation, which cost 800,000 euros, the Normandy Regional Health Agency said on Tuesday.
Out of the 30,780 tests carried out, 350 turned out to be positive, one person received support at the hotel and around twenty others from home help, in particular the carrying of meals. The operation experienced a gradual ramp-up with 1,725 tests on the first day and more than 3,850 on the last day.
#COVID19
📢+ de 30000 tests réalisés en 6 jours sur @LeHavreMetro durant l’expérimentation de la nouvelle stratégie Tester, Alerter, Protéger. Cet engagement collectif se poursuit : labos, pharmacies, cabinets infirmiers et médicaux restent mobilisés.
➡️ https://t.co/5e91d3oRx9 pic.twitter.com/V9RQKbsP8x— ARS Normandie (@ars_normandie) December 20, 2020
A high positivity rate
“Most of the cost is in human resources, around 500,000 euros, the rest being the cost of equipment, signage, signage, cleaning, waste. This is a relatively reasonable cost on the scale of 30,000 tests, ”said Thomas Deroche, director-general of ARS Normandie at a press conference. “The test positivity rate of 1.13% is quite high, it is the sign of an upsurge, and it tells us about the circulation of the virus with 92% of asymptomatic,” he said.
Regarding the number of people tested, he said it was “twice the pace of the Liverpool screening operation and seven times more than the volume of tests normally carried out in this territory. We can consider it a success ”. “The operation was prepared in a very short time, people were received in good conditions. For the epidemiological interest, we could want 100% of the population to be tested, but the approach that was chosen aims to convince, ”added Thomas Deroche.
A “waste of monumental money”
The health authorities do not plan to immediately organize a second large-scale screening, but this operation “made it possible to anchor the habit of the test in the population and among health professionals”, they specified. . Twenty ephemeral screening sites representing 49% of the tests had been set up for the occasion, eighteen of which carried out antigenic tests, the other two having used PCR tests.
Asked this Tuesday morning on RMC, epidemiologist Catherine Hill was very critical of the operation, citing a “waste of monumental money”. “The population was not prepared. (…) If we screen 20% of the population, it’s like going to remove mice from one in five floors in a building, there’s no point, ”she said.
