After the battle of the masks in the spring, the communities are embarking on the test this fall, the Regions asking the State to avoid the constraints of calls for tenders to gain in efficiency. The latter are for the moment required to formally resort to this method for the purchase of large quantities of tests, an obligation that Renaud Muselier, president of Regions of France and the South region, would like to see suspended.
The challenge is to carry out rapid tests, particularly in schools and businesses, in order to quickly identify sources of contamination, isolate patients and thus prevent the spread of the virus.
Thus, since the start of the reconfinement two weeks ago, the Île-de-France has announced the purchase of 100,000 antigenic tests for high schools and the installation of barnums in the 50 most important stations in the region. In the South region, Renaud Muselier has already set the bar at “one million tests by Christmas, with results within 12 minutes”, betting on the launch from mid-November “of a power plant connecting buyers and producers ”of tests. In partnership with the Regional Health Agency, the Region has already purchased 50,000 antigenic and saliva tests, including 25,000 for high schools, 5,000 for Crous, the remaining 20,000 being distributed according to the needs of the territories. . It also acquired “11 rapid test machines provided for hospitals in the region which are deprived of them”.
In discussion with the executive
“To lead this test war, we are asking for ease of purchase”, underlines Renaud Muselier, specifying that the Regions “are in the process of discussing it with the government”.
Departments and municipalities are also involved. In Alsace, Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin have set up a joint initiative on PCR tests, i.e. 500 daily tests carried out by the Departmental Analysis Laboratory. Frédéric Chéreau, mayor of Douai and president of the health commission of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), believes that the role of cities must be that of facilitator: “We mainly intervene in the provision of premises. We communicate about the test locations and the times ”.
The president of the AMF, François Baroin, inaugurated Thursday in his city of Troyes a screening center.
At the request of the mayor of Grenoble Eric Piolle, the ARS authorized and financed two collective operations in two districts of the city, the CHU providing staff and equipment.
