Getting tested without a prescription is now possible. And even encouraged. On July 25, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced that all tests would be reimbursed by health insurance.
They can be carried out in laboratories and pharmacies, or be screened by a private nurse, a nursing assistant, a firefighter, a first aid worker or even a health student, provided they are trained.
In practice, it is often a little more complicated. Queues in front of laboratories, lingering results … Faced with sharply increasing demand, getting tested can become a real obstacle course. To avoid rushing the tests, we can respect certain priority rules.
If you are having symptoms or have been in contact with someone who is sick, this is the top priority. You must be tested, with or without a prescription. In this case, it is necessary to privilege the RT-PCR test, which is the only one able to detect if you are currently infected.
Getting tested in moderation, or not?
On the other hand, if you are not in this situation, the recommendations are more vague. The Ministry of Health does not specify any specific conditions for getting tested on its site. Joined by phone, the Directorate General for Health (DGS) assures RTL that one can get tested “when in doubt”.
This applies if you have symptoms or think you have been in contact with an infected person, but also for those who want to go on vacation or “visit fragile people”. The DGS ensures that France “has an analysis capacity much greater than the observed need” and that “the current tensions are transitory”.
A finding that obviously does not share the Union of Young Medical Biologists (SJBM). He called last July 30 in moderation. “We appeal to the common sense of the French population and to come and be tested only in case of risk: symptoms, contact or return from endemic country. It is essential not to screen 70 million French people by PCR every week “, writes the union.
If you have any doubts, and you are not sure that your situation requires a test, the DGS invites you to consult a doctor to ask his opinion.
The serological test, to find out if you have been infected
Another possibility also exists: the serological tests. They can be done in a pharmacy, by taking a simple drop of blood, or by a health professional, with a blood test. Be careful though, the serological test only allows you to know if you have been infected, not if you are currently infected. Moreover, their reliability is still uncertain, because it is not known how long the antibodies against the coronavirus remain in the blood.
The High Authority of Health (HAS) advises therefore to take a blood test when you have symptoms, or when you work in the medical field or in a nursing home (Ehpad or prison for example), in addition to a negative RT-PCR test. However, HAS recommended that serological tests be prescribed by doctors.
Regarding tests by taking a drop of blood, she recommend them for epidemiological surveys, people who have symptoms and who have difficulty accessing a laboratory or caregivers and staff in accommodation establishments, always after a first negative test. The HAS also recalls that this test called TROD (rapid diagnostic orientation test) must be completed with another laboratory test if it is positive.
