“We are overbooked! If you want information, you have to call Thionville! ” No time. The more time. In Hayange, the queue gets longer every day in front of the Biomer analysis laboratory. In recent weeks, the rise in the number of Covid-19 contamination has convinced thousands of people to get tested. Even those who have no symptoms. Consequence: the activity of some laboratories has experienced a sharp increase since the beginning of September.
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A first sorting operated online
“We only take by appointment, and not during the day,” confirms an employee of the Biomer laboratory in Florange. ” Of the activity ? Of course there are, and a lot! But I don’t have much time to talk about it, ”cuts the operator of the Fohlen laboratory in Fameck. Difficult to be able to extract more than these few words.
For now, the deadlines are met. In the laboratories with the highest activity, online platforms have been set up in order to carry out an initial triage. People who have symptoms are called first. Others are invited to come back later.
“We are stunned with calls, confirms Magalie, laboratory assistant at Biogroup in Knutange. Contact cases for the most part. But we only take people who need surgery. The others, I can’t. “
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Liberal nurses as reinforcements
In this race for screening, the support of liberal nurses is invaluable. On busy days or on weekends, some offer their services to the laboratory in order to take samples. Others practice in the office or at home. “Nurses are trained and equipped by the laboratories, but not all of them do,” says Anne Muller, nurse in Serémange-Erzange.
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Don’t panic
The coming month of confinement should make it possible to reduce the flow of patients. Charles Pax, director of the Espace Bio network in Moselle, calls on people not to panic: “People are afraid so they get tested, but we exaggerate on many points. There is certainly an increase in the positivity rate, but 50% of positive cases are asymptomatic. This means that they are not sick. The question of the contagiousness of these people arises, ”he explains.
Without calling into question the circulation of the virus, the man moderates the number of contaminations announced: “Some people are tested several times a day for several days. This should also be taken into account in the calculations. “
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