It was THE scenario that epidemiologists feared the most, especially at a time when the first vaccines against Covid-19 are starting to be administered: the sudden appearance of a mutant strain of SARS-Cov2.
Since the discovery in Great Britain of a replica of the virus apparently more contagious, France and several other European countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria) decided on Sunday to barricade themselves against this mutant virus by interrupting their links across the Channel, where the capital and the south-east are redefined.
What has France decided?
At the end of the health defense council, which was held urgently this Sunday at 5 p.m., the Elysee Palace announced that France was suspending for 48 hours all travel by people from the United Kingdom, "including related to the transport of goods, by road, air, sea or rail ”.
Only unaccompanied freight will be allowed.
The WHO for its part called on its members in Europe to "strengthen controls".
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If France has given itself 48 hours, it is in particular to "prepare operationally for a secure reopening of flows from the United Kingdom from December 22, which will be based on a mandatory test system at the start".
Moreover, the many French nationals who have planned to return to France to spend the end of year celebrations with their families are already encouraged by Matignon "to carry out a PCR test in the coming days".
What do we know about the new strain?
These drastic measures aim to contain this new variant of Covid-19 which is "out of control" according to the British Minister of Health, Matthew Hancock.
In addition to spreading faster and containing a higher viral load, this new form of the virus would become the "dominant" strain and it is she which would have caused a very sharp rise in hospitalizations in the country in December.
Hence the decision of the British authorities to decree a reconfinement of London and part of England which affects a total of 16 million inhabitants.
These are analyzes carried out on patients in the south of the island, where the epidemic was growing rapidly, which revealed that at least 1,000 patients were carriers of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2.
A different strain which contains, according to the Minister of Health, 23 changes.
According to government scientific adviser Patrick Vallance, this strain appeared in mid-September and caused 62% of the contaminations detected in London and 43% of those recorded in the south-east of Great Britain.
Outside British territory, a handful of cases have been reported in Denmark, as well as a case in the Netherlands and Australia according to the WHO.
What impact on the vaccine?
"There is no indication at the moment that this new strain causes a higher death rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments, but urgent work is underway to confirm this", explains the chief medical officer of the England Chris Whitty.
A mutant virus on which vaccines would have less effect is what worries all doctors.
"The mutation discovered concerns in particular the spike protein which is the key to entering the virus into our cells," explains epidemiologist Pascal Crépey.
However, it is precisely this protein that is targeted by vaccines.
"
Professor Jean-Daniel Lelièvre nevertheless believes that there is no reason to “panic the population” and that we must “keep reason”.
"The virus does not just mutate in England and hundreds and hundreds of mutations have already been described," recalls the infectious disease specialist at Mondor hospital in Créteil (Val-de-Marne).
The previous mutation of the virus was also more contagious.
"
Is it illusory to close the borders?
Do these uncertainties around the dangerousness of this mutant virus justify the temporary stoppage of links with England?
"It makes sense to close the borders knowing that a strain is
potentially
more contagious," explains epidemiologist Martin Blachier.
I say potentially in quotes because it is very difficult to know if this is the case.
What we do know is that we have had a resumption of activity in the South East of England and that we have identified this variant there.
But whether the two are related, it's too early to tell.
"The objective of these preventive measures is in any case to prevent this potentially worrying strain from spreading to other areas of the continent", adds Pascal Crépey.
But does cutting yourself off from a country to protect yourself from a virus really make sense?
Professor François Bricaire doubts it.
"I have always been very reserved on border closures because, in our time, it is a little illusory, estimates the infectious disease specialist, also a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
There will always be exemptions, passages… ”.
He recognizes, however, that it is "easier to close the door to an island" and that "the question can therefore legitimately arise" but he considers that to be effective, this decision "must be taken at European level".
