The call for “everyone's vigilance” launched this Friday by Prime Minister Jean Castex, to deal with the “manifest deterioration” of the figures of the Covid-19 epidemic, will he be sufficient?
Many health professionals express their perplexity most often.
“It's always good to remember that you have to be vigilant… It doesn't hurt.
Perhaps the public authorities think that the situation is totally under control, and that coercive measures are not necessary… We will have to see what the prefects decide in certain regions, over the next few days ”, comments Dr Serge Smadja, president of SOS Médecins, worried about the strong increase in consultations in one week for his teams.
VIDEO. Covid-19: "Additional measures on wearing masks and shopping hours" in certain territories
Among the satisfecit, the announcement of the shortening of the isolation period from 14 days to 7 days, for patients or contact cases.
"It's a good thing, it will simplify people's lives, it seems to me a very good idea", specifies Pierre Tattevin, infectious disease specialist at Rennes University Hospital and president of the infectious pathology society.
"We can quibble by saying that 2% of people could infect others in the second week, but we must adapt to reality," adds Alexandre Bleibtreu, infectious disease specialist at Pitié-Salpêtrière.
"I regret that there was no strong measure"
But, for the rest, specialists are dubious, even very critical of the nature of the response.
“I expected that we would move on to other measures to improve our ability to curb the virus.
I regret that there was no strong measure concerning the gatherings, because we know it, we have seen it in France and elsewhere, these are factors of aggravation of the epidemic ”, estimates Anne- Claude Crémieux, professor of infectious diseases at Saint-Louis hospital in Paris.
In fact, even if 42 departments are now in red, no measure of this type, such as closing bars in the evening, or restricting gatherings, has been announced by Jean Castex, who, on the contrary, welcomes the million tests per week.
"Our strategy does not vary, we must continue to live normally, without letting ourselves be drawn into a logic of generalized confinement", hammered the host of Matignon.
Why this mezza voce speech?
For Anne-Claude Crémieux “the health authorities are governed by the fear of worrying, whereas in times of crisis, what is precisely worrying is inertia”.
The executive's bet is that the epidemic will eventually be brought under control, thanks to the efforts of all, without having to play the fools.
But is it enough?
"Jean Castex should have spoken of the fiasco of the current strategy"
This is not at all the opinion of the former Director General of Health William Dab, epidemiologist at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts: “What is announced is not a strategy.
If it continues like this, we will lose control of the epidemic.
Jean Castex should have spoken of the fiasco of the current testing and tracing strategy.
And it is not by adding 2,000 investigators from the national health insurance fund that we will solve the problem, ”he asserts.
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Epidemiologist Catherine Hill is not very convinced by the Prime Minister's approach either: “We are being told of the measures, while the number of intensive care admissions is rising sharply.
Power does not understand the dynamics of the epidemic.
If it continues like this, we are headed for disaster.
Everyone hopes, however, that this dark scenario will not take place.