The hope was short lived. After several days of decline in the number of new cases of Covid-19 coronavirus, the numbers started to rise again this Friday, February 21. The latest death toll said more than 2,250 people died, mostly in China, where nearly 77,000 people were infected. The only good news is that in France, only one patient remains in hospital out of twelve proven cases.
In China, while the epidemic was confined to Hubei province, where some 56 million people have been living under cover for almost a month, secondary outbreaks have emerged. Dozens of infections have been reported in two hospitals in Beijing, nearly a thousand kilometers away, and more than 500 in prisons across the country. South Korea, on the other hand, saw the number of sick almost double on Friday, with around 200 people affected, including 120 members of a Christian sect.
Still in Asia, Japan is under fire from international critics for its management of the liner "Diamond Princess". The virus spread like wildfire among the passengers. Travelers whom the authorities of the country forced to remain on board, in questionable conditions of confinement. Worse, returnees, first two Australians, then, this Friday, an Israeli, passed between the Japanese nets. They were not detected until they returned to their country.
In Italy, at least nine cities in Lombardy and one in Veneto, closed Friday bars, schools and other public places for a week due to suspected contamination of 16 people.
"The number one public enemy"
The World Health Organization (WHO) had however welcomed Wednesday the "enormous progress" made to curb the epidemic. Change of tone two days later. “This virus is very dangerous. It is the number one public enemy and it is not treated as such, “insists now Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, its managing director.
Is the worst before us? "In 2003, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome, also a coronavirus, editor's note) , had experienced two peaks," recalls Patrick Zylberman, professor emeritus of health history at the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health.
Without waiting, Russia made a radical decision: to close its borders with China. But the measure makes you cough. "It is completely illusory to think that this will offer hermetic protection to the country, if only because carriers without symptoms have perhaps already crossed the border", sweeps Bruno Coutard, researcher at the unit of emerging viruses at the University of Aix-Marseille. "Frankly, it's not serious, it's agitation," says Patrick Zylberman. The specialist considers the containment measures taken in Hubei province just as futile.
Research advances
In a globalized economy, where people and goods circulate a lot, the appearance of secondary homes is inevitable, says Bruno Coutard. “This is why it is essential to have efficient detection systems. He himself is collaborating on the Evag project, an international non-profit research network which has already supplied between 700 and 800 diagnostic kits to emerging countries. "It allows them to develop their own tests," he explains.
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At the same time, the researcher is participating in joint work with the University of Montreal, which resulted, a few days ago, in an important advance in understanding the epidemic. These coronavirus specialists have discovered how Covid-19 infects a human cell.
"We must now determine whether, among the 1,500 to 2,000 authorized antiretroviral molecules, some can act on this mechanism," explains Etienne Decroly, research director in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), at the architecture and function of macromolecules laboratory. biological (CNRS-Aix-Marseille University). If necessary, a treatment could emerge a few months later. But by then, nothing says that the epidemic will continue.
