"Sinking something 15 cm in the nose is not natural, it already frightens adults, so children ..." Since the government announced, in mid-January, a "massive screening" in schools with the deployment of 300,000 tests per week, or 1 million per month, it comes up against a pitfall: "The youngest are reluctant to take a nasopharyngeal sample, it is an intrusive method because of the length of the swab. must sink into the nostrils ”, summarizes in the entourage of the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer.
To remedy this, the authorities are working on a saliva test suitable for schoolchildren, which must be deployed en masse by the return of the February vacation.
This was announced by Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, during the press briefing on Thursday evening when more and more classes are closing because of the Covid-19.
According to figures published this Friday morning, the country has 934, against half less (444) a week earlier.
105 establishments are completely closed: 83 schools, 16 colleges and 6 high schools.
From brakes to testing
The fear of the swab exists, even if it is not really well-founded, confirms Saphia Guérichi, school nurse and general secretary of Snics-FSU, the majority union in the profession.
“This practice is not pleasant, it slows down the little ones.
But that doesn't hurt: it's more of the order of embarrassment.
"Result: during a testing operation in an establishment, only" 20 to 30% of students participate ", figures the ministry.
Another factor that weighs down participation in screening: volunteering to take part.
Because in case of suspicion of Covid-19, those concerned "will more easily go to a laboratory than they would be tested in the school".
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Calendar side, if the opinion of the HAS is expected within ten days, the State will not wait to prepare.
"We will equip ourselves and deploy these techniques so that, upon returning from school holidays, we can perform several hundred thousand tests," announced the Minister of Health.
La Rue de Grenelle specifies that these screenings will "not be generalized", but "targeted" by the Regional Health Agency (ARS), either in the event of a cluster, or blind if the number of cases is rising sharply. in a sector.
What will they look like?
This is a sample by saliva, sputum or pipetting, for example on the tongue.
For the results, the samples will be, as for the nasopharyngeal test, sent to the laboratory for analysis.
Finally, there is the question of the human resources to carry out these tests.
Because school nurses are overworked.
“Covid-19 screening means less time for our core business: listening to and supporting students,” sighs Saphia Guérichi.
A screening sometimes mobilizes seven school nurses for barely a hundred tests!
If we plan to increase them, we should call on liberal nurses.
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