Covid-19 is now in the pandemic stage. As of mid-March, more than 134,000 people have been infected with the new virus and another 5,000 have died in 121 countries.
Pandemics are not uncommon. Samuel Alizon, a CNRS researcher at the Infectious Diseases laboratory, recalls that "every year the flu is endemic" and affects millions of people simultaneously.
But unlike the flu or the Ebola epidemic, the coronavirus poses, according to the researcher, "an important public health problem" because "the symptoms of the coronavirus appear after one has started to be infectious".
And to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Samuel Alizon recalls the importance of “barrier gestures” - no longer shake hands, cough in your elbow, wash your hands regularly. According to the scientist, it will be necessary to go further to roll back the pandemic and drastically "reduce our contacts".