To ensure screening for Covid-19, many pharmacies have set up tents in front of their pharmacy in which they carry out the tests. But too low a temperature can skew the result and cause a false positive, reports The Parisian.
Indeed, antigen tests do not support the cold. “If the tests were frozen, it completely degraded the silica matrix”, explains to the Ile-de-France daily Gilles Bonnefond, spokesperson for the Union of Community Pharmacists (USPO). The tests must therefore be stored in a place where the temperature fluctuates between 2 and 30°C.
Pharmacies are closing their tents
During the screening itself, the recommended temperature should be above 7 or 8°C. If these instructions are not followed, the result may be distorted. However, in the tents set up outside the pharmacies, the sanitary utensils are not protected from the cold, noted The Parisian.
Faced with this difficulty specific to winter temperatures, some pharmacies have given up carrying out tests in tents. Regarding self-tests for Covid-19, the recommendations are the same. Gilles Bonnefond reminds that they should not be stored in a car for example, where the temperatures can drop below the limit.
