The summer months saw a surge in Covid-19 cases in France.
So much so that in this re-entry, many destinations (including overseas territories) impose a very strict health protocol before crossing their borders.
Among these measurements, present a negative PCR test dating from 48 to 72 hours maximum.
Except that the precious sesame is more and more difficult to obtain, especially since the beginning of September, the date of the launch of the government's massive screening policy.
This, especially since, also since September, travelers are no longer considered a priority, neither to get an appointment for sampling, nor to obtain a result in 48 hours.
So much so that between saturation of laboratories, waiting list to be tested and interminable delays to obtain the results, the tourists are impatient.
When they are not forced to postpone or cancel their trips - often at their expense - because they did not receive their pass on time ...
This is the case of Marie-Caroline, 57, who lives in Seine-et-Marne (77).
Last Thursday, she was to take the plane with her sister to Reunion Island to join her family.
A trip planned since January, before the start of the coronavirus epidemic in France.
A week before departure, she is looking to get an appointment for a PCR test, the territory requiring a negative Covid-19 test carried out within 3 days before boarding.
Without success.
“
I called more than twenty laboratories around my home but also in the Paris region.
Five of them had a shortage of reagents, the others made me understand that I was not a priority,
”she reports.
She then goes to the laboratory closest to her home, hoping to have better luck there.
But here again, after two and a half hours of queue, Marie-Caroline was refused.
It is not a priority.
Discouraged, she is now trying to get her ticket refunded.
Read also: Where will the French travel in 2020?
Airlines go all out
If the situation is deleterious for passengers, it is also for tourism professionals, who try everything for everything.
Air France has partnered with a private group of 400 laboratories, with the aim of efficiently welcoming travelers with the promise of providing test results within 48 hours, with or without an appointment.
Ditto between the Corsair company and another private group, bringing together nearly 850 sites.
Except that in both cases, given the context, the laboratories can no longer guarantee these deadlines.
All the more so since these partnerships were reserved for those who had purchased their tickets directly via Air France or Corsair.
In other words, not the majority of buyers.
Still in order to better manage this crisis, the same Air France and Corsair, but also Air Caraïbes and French Bee, have decided to set up a screening tent at the airport to allow passengers traveling to 'Overseas to carry out their test on site.
Thus, at Orly, between 400 and 500 tests are carried out daily.
Except that, again, the results sometimes take several days to arrive, often exceeding 72 hours.
Latest attempt by airlines to reorganize their flights.
In the event of a negative test, they ensure that the passengers are placed on the first available flight.
And this at no additional cost.
But here too, it's easier said than done ... Between organizational hiccups and travelers left behind, the situation sometimes turns grotesque.
A petition from industry professionals
In this context, the discontent rises.
On social networks, many exasperated travelers express their dissatisfaction.
Ditto for professionals.
On September 22, the Tourcom travel agency network launched a petition on the Change.org site for the attention of the government, the Ministry of Health and the Economy.
Tourcom wants regulations to evolve and calls for an accelerated procedure for PCR tests carried out by travelers.
The petition, which has collected more than 2,500 signatures, is however far from unanimous among professionals in the sector.
"
It's grotesque,
" protested Jean-François Rial, CEO of Voyageurs du Monde and vice-president of the Union of tour-operating companies (Seto).
“
We can criticize the government's strategy, but it is normal that we are not
(the travel sector, editor's note)
a priority.
We cannot, if we want to be credible, make requests that do not take into account the general interest
, ”he emphasizes.
On the other hand, he supports the proposal of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which wishes to subject each passenger to a rapid screening for the coronavirus before their departure.
By rapid screening, IATA means an “antigenic” test, the results of which would be available in less than thirty minutes.
The president of Tourcom and author of the petition, Richard Vainopoulos, is also in favor of this solution.
"
This is also what has been put in place with our neighbors, in Germany and Italy,
" he describes.
The only problem is that antigenic tests are considered less reliable than PCRs.
Among the other proposals, that of the Reunionese deputy David Lorion who suggests that the laboratories work in collaboration with the airlines so that the deadlines of transmission of the results are guaranteed.
For its part, the ADP group wishes to open a second test room in each Parisian airport as quickly as possible.
Arrested on several occasions during September at the National Assembly, (especially in the overseas territories), the Minister of Health Olivier Véran said he was working on the issue with Sébastien Lecornu.
"
It's a real concern [...] I hope to be able to move quickly
".
