PARIS (FRANCE) – Staff at around 20 health testing clinics in southern France were protesting on Wednesday. They complained that they were overworking amid the COVID-19 outbreak, which has left them at risk without getting any proper compensation from them.
A few of the clinics, run by the firm Biofusion, had to shut down, union representatives said, however, the main testing centre was still open.
With the French government demanding faster testing, people are thronging centers to get tests, and a few of the test results are delayed as the laboratories are facing the heat.
Stephanie Antoine, a technician at a Biofusion clinic out on strike on Wednesday, said the COVID-19 testing was performed by people hired for short term and it has had an effect on other staff.
She said secretaries at the clinics were having to deal with a vast number of telephone calls from anxious patients trying to find out if they have tested positive for COVID-19.
Her clinic conducted between 800 and 1,000 tests a day, she said. She said some staff were anxious about their safety, while dealing with frustrated patients. “Psychologically, you need to hold out,” she said.
They have paid at least 250 euro COVID-19 bonus to the staff, said Antoine. However, they were looking to pay at least a 1,000 euro bonus for all staff.