screening tests drop below 10 million per week

Resting the nostrils… Much in demand, especially as the end of year celebrations approach, the nostrils of the French have been slowly moving away from the tests for two weeks. Fewer than 10 million Covid-19 screening tests were carried out last week, the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.

Between January 24 and 30, 2022, nearly 9.3 million RT-PCR and antigen tests were validated, compared to nearly 10.7 million the previous week, said the Statistics Department (Drees) in a press release.

Reduction in contamination

After nine weeks of uninterrupted increase since the All Saints holidays and “the start of the fifth epidemic wave”, and with a new daily peak of 2.28 million tests reached on January 10, the volume of tests is beginning “a decline since two weeks, especially in those under 66”.

The number of new positive cases on average over seven days stood at 306,076 cases on Wednesday evening against 365,130 a week ago, seeming to confirm that the peak of contamination has passed. Enough to offer a well-deserved rest to the noses of the French.