“I had to get tested, explains Anthony, a high school student, who came with his mother. But in Laval they no longer had any tests, and in Château-Gontier, there were no more appointments, but we ended up finding an appointment here. “ He is in contact, after one of the students in his class tested positive for Coronavirus. Its self-test being positive, ihe absolutely needed to be tested by a healthcare professional, and “it was a bit of a panic “, Rachel, his mother, smiles nervously.
A week of waiting
And there are many in his case. According to the pharmacists’ union, 10% of French people have been tested last week, 2/3 at pharmacists. And this is the case in the pharmacy of Mayenne where the young man was tested. The phone rings constantly. “It’s been like this for two weeks, explains Charlène, the assistant, who runs from the counter to the receiver all the time. We have so many calls that we can’t make an appointment for a week. ”
A hundred tests per day
At the head of this pharmacy: Fabien Dutet. IHe performs around 100 tests per day, compared to 60 during the month of December. And “it’s the crowd, for this doctor of pharmacy. We try to respond to a maximum of demand, we try to test people with prescriptions as a priority, and people who have positive self-tests in order to be able to give them the necessary documents. But unfortunately, for all that is school contact case we have more places. It won’t get better until the end of the month. And right now, we’re in the prime of New Year’s Day. “
To reduce his workload, Fabien Dutet would like the government reduce the number of tests required for case-contacts for example.