Covid-19: the end of free access has collapsed the number of tests carried out last week

Hitting the French in the wallet by forcing some of them to pay for their Covid-19 screening tests has had the desired effect.

According to the latest data from the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES), attached to the Ministry of Health, the number of validated tests continued to decline last week.

Read also Covid-19: free tests will have cost more than "8 billion euros" to the State in two years

From October 11 to 17, 2.97 million tests were validated by a healthcare professional, including 1.8 million antigens. The delisting thus brought the number of tests below the three million mark, for the first time since July 21. Over seven days, the number of samples fell 7.5% compared to the week before, and nearly 50% compared to the peak in mid-August.

In detail, the second part of the week was marked by a double movement caused by the delisting and which suggests a significant drop in demand in the days to come. Initially, a "

" on the tests took place the day before the delisting, Thursday 14th: in twenty-four hours, 806,379 tests were carried out, a little less than double the average of the days before and. 70% increase compared to the previous Thursday. In anticipation of the end of free access, the French have flocked to laboratories and pharmacies.

Then, at the end of the week, after the delisting, the demand collapsed.

Compared to the average of the three previous Fridays, the number of tests validated on October 15 fell by 44%.

Same dynamic on Saturday, with a drop of 45%, and on Sunday, with a drop of 38%.

“

” notes Drees.

In addition, the decline is more marked among people under the age of 66 than among their elders.

And, adds the document, "

".

In the coming days, the number of tests, which had already fallen since mid-August, should continue to decline, accentuated by the delisting.

Unless, of course, a strong resumption of the epidemic hampers this dynamic.

For its part, the Ministry of Health estimates that the weekly number should be around two million.

De-reimbursement, a risk of "discrimination"

Effective since last Friday, the end of free testing aims to encourage vaccination, which has slowed down sharply since the end of the summer. It also allows the State's portfolio to be lightened by a weight: "

”, underlined Gabriel Attal at the beginning of October. In total, nearly 160 million tests have been carried out since March 2020, at an estimated cost of between 8 and 9 billion euros over two years. An extremely expensive bill, and which should continue to grow, a large part of the French still having their tests covered by Medicare.

However, delisting is not to everyone's liking.

On Wednesday, the Defender of Rights was concerned about a measure that could be compared to a "

".

Claire Hédon also underlined the “

” of this change, which also weakens the tracing of patients.