Christian Estrosi visited the Valrose residence to officially announce the implementation of saliva tests in nursing homes.
The fight against Covid-19 continues in the city of Nice. Since February, the High Authority of Health has authorized the use of saliva tests to detect Covid-19. Christian Estrosi has thus aimed to implement these tests, particularly in nursing homes and schools.
Accompanied by Jennifer Salles-Barbosa, deputy in charge of solidarity and vice-president of the CCAS of Nice, Professor Charles-Hugo Marquette from the Nice University Hospital, and Dr. Didier Benchetrit, a medical biologist, the mayor of the azure city visited a nursing home, the Valrose residence, to observe the implementation of the tests. “This is good news,” notes Christian Estrosi. “The more immunity we provide to our population, the more freedom we will have.”
To reach this goal, the city of Nice is investing in the vaccination campaign. Subjected to regular tests, nursing home residents can now benefit from a more pleasant test, thanks to the work of Professors Charles-Hugo Marquette and Paul Hofman, who are behind these new saliva tests.
Reliability of 75 to 80%
As in all residences, each resident and every staff member were able to be tested. The technique of saliva tests used in nursing homes differs from the traditional spitting. “Elderly people secrete less saliva, it’s more complicated for them to spit,” acknowledges Professor Marquette.
Patients receive a kind of sponge. They chew it for several seconds. The sponge thus absorbs saliva, and the doctors can safely retrieve the object. “Today, the challenge is to train as many people as possible to enable these tests to be conducted,” admits Christian Estrosi.
The reliability of the test is 75 to 80%, compared to 90% for a nasopharyngeal test. Approximately 2,000 sponges should arrive before this weekend, and 3,000 sponges will be distributed next week. Additionally, the mayor has announced an acceleration of the vaccination. 34,000 people have already been vaccinated in the metropolitan area. This number will reach 46,000 by this weekend.
