Towards a third confinement to fight the Covid-19 epidemic?
If the share of the British variant "were to increase significantly and we were to follow an English trajectory", this measure would become "probably an absolute necessity", warned the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, this Thursday.
"The spread of the variant of English origin on French territory can be a determining element in the strategies to fight against the epidemic that we could deploy in the coming days and the coming weeks", added the minister, heard before the commission of the laws of the Senate, within the framework of the bill on the extension of the state of health emergency.
“When I talk about a race against time, I weigh my words.
[…] It is a determining factor for the days, weeks and months to come, and I also speak in days ”, he insisted.
In France, this variant represents at this stage around 1.4% of the total daily Covid-19 contamination, as shown by a recent survey carried out on all positive PCR tests.
Sanitary measures until the fall?
Initially spotted in England, this more contagious variant worries the international community.
Even if it does not seem intrinsically more dangerous than the classic coronavirus, it risks posing a major problem: more infected people, it is more patients who end up in hospital, with an increased risk of the system being overwhelmed. .
The United Kingdom is currently facing serious difficulties in its hospitals, and on Wednesday recorded 1,820 more deaths, a new daily record.
“This will continue because what we are seeing is the result of the new variant,” warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Other variants, including one initially detected in South Africa, are also worrying the international community.
In addition to being more transmissible, like the English variant, they seem to risk compromising the effectiveness of vaccines.
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“Even with the best organization and all the supplies, we could not have vaccinated all vulnerable audiences by the summer.
This is why we are asking for health measures to be continued until the fall, ”Olivier Véran also indicated on Thursday before the Senate Law Commission.
