Never, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, have the French been so tested. In the week of December 27 to January 2, 8.3 million antigenic or RT-PCR tests were carried out in France, according to the direction of research, studies, evaluation and statistics (Drees). In the midst of the fifth epidemic wave, the number reached the previous week was exceeded, with 1.4 million additional tests in one week (an increase of more than 20%).
While the queues lengthen in front of pharmacies and laboratories, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, wanted to defend the government’s strategy, even if it means giving it more importance than it has.
What Jean Castex said
Asked Thursday January 6 by Jean-Jacques Bourdin on “The puzzle to find a place” to carry out a screening test for SARS-CoV-2, the Prime Minister replied on BFM-TV :
“France is the second country in the world to be tested. We can say: “It’s not enough, there are queues, we have to wait…” All of this is correct, but we have gone all out and we are testing a lot. “
A few days earlier, on January 3, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, had already affirmed on France Inter : « There is hardly any country that tests as much as we do. “
Why is it wrong
Neither Olivier Véran nor Jean Castex specified during their media interventions where their assertions came from. Contacted by The world to specify the source allowing to affirm that France was “The second country in the world to be tested”, the Prime Minister’s office had not followed up on Friday evening.
If, indeed, France “Test a lot” Since the appearance of the more contagious Omicron variant in December 2021, other countries have carried out many more tests. To compare correctly, you have to relate the number of daily tests performed in each country to its population. This is what the site offers OurWorldInData, which compiles data from different national health agencies around the world.
According to these data, the result is striking: European countries represent the top of the ranking for the number of PCR and antigen tests performed per capita, but France is far from being the champion of the tests described by Jean Castex and Olivier Véran. It is more in seventh place than in second.
Comparing countries with each other, as these members of the government are doing, is not always relevant during this pandemic: in fact, each country has its own policy on the use of tests, and they are not reimbursed everywhere and for everything. the world.