As there are many people who cannot participate in large-scale testing on their own, professionals within the health sector have opted to make tests more accessible to those who are struggling, such as the long-term unemployed, young people in difficulty, undocumented immigrants and drug addicts.
The Health Directorate is aware that not everyone has a permanent address and can therefore not receive invitations to participate in the large-scale testing project. Dr Thomas Dentzer explained they re-evaluated their testing strategy to reach these people.
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The mobile test station, situated in an adapted bus, has a capacity of over 500 Covid tests per day. The bus usually serves care homes, but will also visit locations aimed at people in vulnerable circumstances this week, such as the Centre Ulysse in Bonnevoie.
Dr Dentzer explained the Health Directorate was working alongside 8 social work associations, while two volunteer doctors from Médecins du Monde have joined the team to help coordinate and ensure any positive results are clearly communicated to those who need to quarantine or self-isolate.
In the event that a person in precarious circumstances tests positive for the virus, the patient concerned is contacted as soon as possible if a phone number is listed for them. If not, the team must find an alternative, as was the case on Monday after testing took place at the Wanteraktioun winter homeless shelter in Findel. GP Yann Gorges explained they contacted the team at the shelter, who promptly located the patient in question and gave them a room in which to isolate safely.
For more long-term solutions, the team have been reserving hotel rooms to allow patients to isolate with a roof over their head.
Fortunately, emergency medical care during the Covid crisis has been recognised as part of the social sector by the government. Dr Gorges explained they had adapted their on-call procedure during the first lockdown, but remained open as a reception structure for patients who could not receive medical care elsewhere.
