The antigenic tests carried out since the end of November in about thirty high schools in Ile-de-France have revealed a positivity rate "very low overall", of 0.42% on average, said the authorities concerned on Thursday.
This "goes in the direction of a weak circulation of the virus within schools", they add.
Really ?
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Difficult, in reality, to draw definitive conclusions on the level of circulation of the virus in these establishments.
Like the methodological biases recently encountered by the Pasteur Institute in its study on the sites of contamination, the people analyzed only represent a small fraction of all infections.
The Ile-de-France authorities thus recall that the symptomatic pupils and the contact cases were "not tested in the context of these operations, in accordance with the recommendations for the use of antigenic tests, which may partly explain the low positivity rate observed" .
The possibility of initiating a “contact tracing” immediately made it possible to “break the chains of contamination as soon as possible”, they welcome however.
20% of people screened by high school on average
These tests were launched on November 23 by the rectorates of Paris, Créteil, Versailles and the Ile-de-France regional health agency, with the support of the AP-HP (Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris) in a around thirty high school students from the Ile-de-France region, for volunteer staff and students.
Their objective was to conduct “epidemiological surveillance” and raise awareness among students and staff about barrier gestures.
It was also a question of responding to the concerns of the teaching community and of the students.
"Too crowded", "no physical distancing", "too much mixing" ... The canteens were particularly in the viewfinder.
A blocking movement had disrupted the resumption of classes after the All Saints holidays.
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In total, 5,750 people, including 4,473 students and 1,277 staff, volunteered, an average of 20% of people screened by high school (37% of staff and 19% of students).
The region plans to redeploy such screening operations in the coming weeks and months depending on the circulation of the virus.