Close to 5,000 students, teachers and staff took advantage of free, voluntary Covid tests upon the return to school this week, and only 37 returned a positive result, better than the first campaign in January.
The Monaco government released the results of its school screening campaign on Wednesday, which had taken place on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd February.
Like the operation carried out at the start of the new school year in January, the objective was to allow students and school staff to test themselves on a voluntary basis after the school holidays and manage a possible spread throughout the Principality.
“The result of the operation is very satisfactory considering more than eight out of 10 people present at the school wanted to be screened,” said the government in a statement.
In total, 4,964 people took a Covid test, and 37 of them had a positive result for Covid-19. They included 35 students, 20 of whom were residents of the Principality, and two non-resident school staff.
The positivity rate equates to just 0.7% (0.9% among students and 0.2% among staff), compared to 1.9% in January 2022.
“While still present, this highlights a circulation of the virus that is significantly down compared to the return from the Christmas holidays,” said the government.
Positive self-tests were then confirmed with a PCR test.
Residents and employees who would like to benefit from a free PCR test, without medical prescription, at the National Screening Centre in the Rainier III Auditorium are invited to do so by contacting the Covid-19 Call Centre on 92.05.55.00.