Old Analytical Capacity for Virological Testing in the Covid-19 Epidemic

**Information of 20 May 2021** As of today, the indicators will be corrected in order to eliminate the double effect, when carrying out several tests by the same person. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the secure Si-DEP platform has recorded all the results of the tests. In order to guarantee the protection of the personal data of the persons tested, each result was linked to the issue of an anonymised pseudo. However, with the appearance of variants in the territory, some people are required to carry out two tests, so far counted twice. The algorithm used has therefore recently been updated so that it counts only one patient when tested several times in a short time interval, always respecting anonymity. Thanks to this new pseudonymisation, Santé publique France is able to increase its effectiveness and produce even more accurate data, which can be consulted weekly in its epidemiological point. ### Actions of Public Health France Public Health France’s mission is to improve and protect the health of populations. During the health crisis linked to the COVID-19 outbreak, Santé publique France is responsible for monitoring and understanding the dynamics of the epidemic, anticipating the various scenarios and putting in place actions to prevent and limit the transmission of this virus on national territory. ### The Tracking Information System (SI-DEP) The new screening information system (SI-DEP), which has been in operation since 13 May 2020, is a secure platform where the results of the laboratory tests carried out by all city and hospital laboratories for SARS-COV2 are systematically recorded. The creation of this information system is authorised for a period of 6 months from the end of the state of health emergency by application of [Decree No 2020-551 of 12 May 2020](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000041869923) on the information systems referred to in Article 11 of Law No 2020-546 of 11 May 2020 extending the state of health emergency and supplementing its provisions. ### Description of data This dataset provides information at the departmental, regional and national levels: — the number of tests performed per day and per week; — the number of establishments (hospitals or laboratories) that have gone back to carrying out screening tests. The analytical capacity corresponds to the number of tests carried out, whether positive or negative, per 100,000 inhabitants. It shall be calculated as follows: (100000*number of tests performed)/Population Details: — From 29/08 onwards, laboratory data indicators (SI-DEP) show rates of incidence, positivity and screening adjusted for screenings conducted at airports upon arrival of international flights. — For more information, see the methodological note available in the resources. **Attention**: The analytical capacity does not correspond to the number of tests available. **Update frequency** Epidemiological trends, incidence estimates and test positivity rates will be produced on a weekly basis. ### Notable changes Since 8 December, after verifying the quality of the reported data, all results of RT-PCR or Antigenic tests have been included in the production of national and territorial epidemiological indicators (incidence rates, positivity rates and screening rates) relevant to the monitoring of the COVID-19 outbreak. On the other hand, the epidemic is prolonging in time and screening capacities have increased, leading to an increasing frequency of people tested several times. Thus, an adjustment of the methods of splitting for patients benefiting from repeated tests and therefore the definition of the persons tested was necessary. Public Health France, in its patient-centred epidemiological approach, has therefore adapted its methods to ensure that these indicators reflect, in particular, the proportion of infected people among the population tested. These developments have no impact on the trends and interpretation of the dynamics of the epidemic, which remain the same.