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COVID-19: HOW TO EXPLAIN THE RESUMPTION OF THE EPIDEMIC IN FRANCE
Alain Ducardonnet with Hugo Septier
the 03/21/2022 at 10:31
Since the abandonment of the vaccination pass and the indoor mask a week ago, contamination has increased by 36% in the country.
An inevitable epidemic recovery? Only one week after the end of the indoor mask and the health pass in France, certain Covid-19 indicators are worrying . According to the health authorities, the daily average of contaminations over seven days, which smoothes the daily jolts, is up sharply with 89,002 cases this Sunday, against 86,022 on Saturday and 65,251 a week ago, a national increase of 36%. .
At the same time, the number of people hospitalized for Covid-19 continues to decrease over a week, with 20,566 patients concerned on Sunday against 20,917 a week earlier.
In the field, this increase in contamination is noticed by health professionals. On BFMTV, Sabine Yazbeck, pharmacist in Nice, recalls that "for a month, we had almost no more positives, we had one or two a week. "There, we went back to two or three a day", she notes.
“We currently have 10 Covid beds in the hospital, they are almost constantly occupied”, explains on our antenna the doctor Matteo Vassallo, head of the infectiology department of the Cannes hospital center.
Several factors may come into play to explain this recovery. Initially, if the government had indeed indicated March 14 as the deadline for the lifting of several coercive health measures , it is likely that the French anticipated these and proceeded with a relaxation a few days earlier, including in places in interior where the mask was still imposed.
The start of the school year, in particular in zone B, which corresponds to the regions where the incidence is highest in the country, may also have had a role. In these areas, the return of Covid-19 is to be combined with that of the flu , the incidence of which is also increasing. As a reminder, the vaccination of children against Covid-19 is only 5% nationally.
This resumption of contamination is also explained by the contagiousness of the BA.2 variant of Omicron . This is slightly more contagious than the BA.1 variant but has the same severity, and current vaccination coverage remains effective against it.
With regard to immunization, the focus should be on the most vulnerable French people, including immunocompromised people, who have pathologies, the elderly or who are at the end of their immunity.
The High Authority for Health (HAS) has proposed a fourth dose of vaccination accepted by the government for patients over 80 or who are in nursing homes. A request has been filed by this same authority to extend this booster dose to over 65s suffering from poly-pathologies.
The Vigilant Government
Did the government move too quickly in accepting the end of the indoor mask? The scientific body is divided on the question and, if some like Professor Gilles Pialoux evoke a "political decision" , others insist on the psychological side of this measure.
For them, it is likely that, as is the case with the flu, we are heading towards a cyclical return of Covid-19 with an annual rise during the winter months.
"Projections from the Pasteur Institute suggest that the hospital wave will be modest. With about half of the population having already encountered Omicron. In fact, the acquired immunity of the population is sufficient to protect the vast majority against the serious forms of the disease", confirms on BFMTV the doctor Bruno Megarbane, head of the intensive care unit at the Lariboisière hospital in Paris.
In an interview with Le Parisien , the Minister of Health Olivier Véran denies having taken early decisions motivated by the upcoming arrival of the presidential election.
"If a new variant threatened us, we would act immediately, presidential election or not!", He assures, also referring to the BA.2 variant, "very contagious." Still according to the minister, a decline is to be expected for "April."
“For two years, the government has always taken firm decisions when they were necessary”, argued meanwhile the leader of the LREM deputies Christophe Castaner on BFMTV-RMC this Monday morning.
https://www.bfmtv.com/sante/covid-1...-de-l-epidemie-en-france_AV-202203210223.html