The second massive Covid-19 detection campaign organized by the state, which will begin on Monday February 22 in Saint-Étienne, will inaugurate a new generation of tests, based on saliva self-sampling, AFP learned on Friday February 19. from the BioSpeedia laboratory and the municipality.
Read also: Covid-19: Did France take too long to authorize saliva tests?
Presented as "
a first
" carried out in France on a large scale, it is a "
saliva antigen test, supplemented by a second sample at the entrance of the nasal orifice, to compensate for the lower viral load contained in the saliva.
», Explains Julien Tizot, CEO of BioSpeedia, which markets the test designed with the infectious diseases unit of the Saint-Étienne University Hospital.
With results delivered after 15 minutes, the samples can be taken by the person tested themselves, under the supervision of medical personnel.
In order to verify their reliability on a large scale, these tests will all be sent to a laboratory in the hospital center for a PCR control, while a systematic search for a variant will be applied to those which will be positive.
This second screening campaign in Saint-Etienne organized by the State, from February 22 to 28, will take place in 12 dedicated centers, with the objective of carrying out at least 20,000 tests, i.e. half of the ambition displayed during the January edition.
Another novelty is a bus from the Stas (Saint-Etienne public transport company) to meet the inhabitants with on board student nurses who will try to make them aware of the usefulness of being tested.
