According to the Directorate General of Health, 2.86 million PCR tests and 6.65 million antigenic screening tests for Covid-19 were performed between December 31 and January 6.
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Nearly 9.5 million Covid-19 screening tests were carried out in France between December 31, 2021 and January 6, 2022, said the Directorate General of Health (DGS) on Friday January 7 in a press release. In detail, 2.86 million PCR tests and 6.65 million antigenic tests were performed.
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Compared to the previous week, the volume of tests increased by 25%. According to the ministry, it is the extremely rapid distribution of the Omicron variant, causing an exceptional increase in contamination, which has led the French to be massively screened. “Latest screening figures reach unprecedented proportions”, underlines the press release. By comparison, during previous peaks of the epidemic, there were more than 3 million tests performed per week in December 2020 and 5.9 million in August 2021.
Since January 3, more than one in four tests concerns children. Between January 3 and January 7, around 2.7 million self-tests were also distributed by pharmacists under the new doctrine for contact cases.
According to surveys of pharmacists, there are 6 million self-tests in stock in pharmacies as of January 7. Pharmacists have also ordered 11 million self-tests for the week of January 10. For their part, manufacturers indicate that they have 27.5 million self-tests, including 14.5 million for the week of January 10.