+ A
A -
dpa
Strasbourg
France is planning a mass coronavirus testing of children to stem the spread of a variant of the coronavirus first detected in Britain, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday.
“We have established a protocol that aims to test up to one million children and teachers a month, which is enormous,” Veran told French news agency AFP.
The virus seemed to spread more rapidly among children, the health minister said, adding that testing should start at the age of six wherever it was reasonable.
France has recently recorded several cases of the mutant strain - which is suspected of being significantly more transmissible than other forms of the virus - across the country, for example in the southern city of Marseille over the weekend and in the greater Paris area.
Authorities had warned against the dangers of the variant and called for further measures.
France, with a population of about 67 million, has been hard hit by the pandemic. About 69,000 people have died from Covid-19 so far, while the country has recorded more than 2.8 million infections.
Strasbourg
France is planning a mass coronavirus testing of children to stem the spread of a variant of the coronavirus first detected in Britain, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday.
“We have established a protocol that aims to test up to one million children and teachers a month, which is enormous,” Veran told French news agency AFP.
The virus seemed to spread more rapidly among children, the health minister said, adding that testing should start at the age of six wherever it was reasonable.
France has recently recorded several cases of the mutant strain - which is suspected of being significantly more transmissible than other forms of the virus - across the country, for example in the southern city of Marseille over the weekend and in the greater Paris area.
Authorities had warned against the dangers of the variant and called for further measures.
France, with a population of about 67 million, has been hard hit by the pandemic. About 69,000 people have died from Covid-19 so far, while the country has recorded more than 2.8 million infections.
