At Tahiti-Faaa airport, an experimental self-test that only takes one minute to complete is available to travellers.
- Already more than 20,000 tests have been carried out.
- These tests are in 2 parts: a cotton swab for the nose and another for the throat.
- The objective of the local authorities is that this procedure be carried out by the traveler himself, under the supervision of a professional, only with a swab at the back of the throat.
Travelers arriving in Tahiti have the right to a self-test to screen for a potential Covid-19 infection. This experiment, which is carried out in just one minute, aims to relieve the authorities who are facing a lack of staff among caregivers. This new protocol is already a success. “It has worked well since we have stripped, since we set it up, more than 20,000 tests”, welcomed the local Minister of Health, Jacques Raynal, at the microphone ofEuropean 1.
Avoid overextending health capacities
Upon arriving at the airport, an envelope is presented to travelers, with two self-administered tests inside. The first must be done through the nose, the second through the saliva. “There is a cotton swab to put in the nose, then in a small specific tubereported Chantal, a tourist, at the microphone of Europe 1. On the other hand, there is another cotton swab to put in the throat.” The realization of these tests is ultra-fast. “It only takes a minutesays the traveler. It’s packed in the envelope and it goes.” In the long term, the objective of the local authorities is that this procedure be carried out by the traveler himself, under the supervision of a professional, only with a swab at the back of the throat.
Since the reopening of international flights to the archipelago on July 15, 1,209 cases have been recorded for two deaths while there are 241 active cases, according to figures announced by the local Minister of Health during a press conference held on September 18. An explosion in the number of infected people is feared by the local authorities while these islands are almost devoid of hospitals. In addition, many residents have diabetes, obesity and respiratory failure which are risk factors for Covid-19. “The difficulty for us would be submersion, the overflow of our health capacities”, Jacques Raynal shared with AFP on September 11th.
Plan Covid fenua
To fight effectively against the spread of the virus, the local government launched, on July 15, on the occasion of the reopening of the borders, the “Plan Covid fenua”. Faced with the progression of the virus, Jacques Raynal announced that no more PCR tests will be carried out in the absence of symptoms or in the absence of a doctor’s prescription. The government also added to distinguish four levels of epidemic according to the intensity of the circulation of the virus. The leeward islands are placed at level 3, meaning that the virus is actively circulating, and the rest of the archipelagos remain at level 1, which corresponds to a controlled presence of the virus.
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