EduMin Cimpeanu: There will be 70 M tests based on saliva for the screening of SARS-CoV-2 infections in schools

The Minister of Education, Sorin Cimpeanu, stated on Monday that, in a few days, the National Agency for Medicines will establish the type of non-invasive tests that will be used to screen for SARS-CoV-2 infections in schools, with about 70 million tests to be distributed to schools for this purpose.

"It is a very important acquisition, because there are 11 weeks left from the 14 weeks of school in the first semester, which will end at the end of the calendar year, (...) 3.2 million beneficiaries. Given that the screening process requires the possibility of testing all, it means that we have about 3.2 million beneficiaries in the education system to consider, who, multiplied by two, means 6.4 million non-invasive tests required weekly and, if we talk of 11 weeks, there are 70 million non-invasive tests based on saliva that we need," Cimpeanu told a press conference.

The Minister specified that the National Medicines Authority is to establish the type of test and the minimum criteria it has to meet.

"They will not be approved. They will be authorized based on the identification of these minimum criteria and the very important regulations. I am convinced that we are talking of days," said Sorin Cîmpeanu.

He added that tests are being performed in schools, where there are medical offices, the Ministry of Health supplementing, at the end of last week, with 280,000 the number of antigen tests available to schools.