“It's very violent but it's great because afterwards you can have a normal life!
Serena Williams seems to be enjoying her forced fortnight in Australia, a few days before the start of the Australian Open.
Interviewed in the American show The Late Show on Monday evening, the star of world tennis praised the country's aggressive policy in the face of Covid-19.
This eradication strategy has a name: “Zero Covid”.
In force in several countries in Asia and Oceania, it consists of taking very strong measures as soon as a handful of cases are detected in order to immediately stop the epidemic.
Australia, China but also New Zealand, for example, do not hesitate to confine an entire region at the slightest alert.
How a pro, (@serenawilliams) handles and responds to quarantine in Adelaide, Australia.
@AustralianOpen @colbertlateshow #LSSC @ 10NewsFirst pic.twitter.com/P7K9mr8TQn
- Chris Campey (@Chris_Campey) January 27, 2021
Without necessarily going as far as strict reconfigurations, some now advocate the “Zero Covid” strategy in France.
The epidemiologist Antoine Flahault, used to scrutinizing the evolution of the situation in the various countries of the world, is one of them.
"I switched in favor of
Zero Covid
when I realized that we would not be able to vaccinate the entire population by the end of the summer," he explains.
Macron's "Living with the virus"
Such a doctrine would constitute a radical change from “living with the virus”, praised by Emmanuel Macron and the government.
Above all, it would be very difficult to set up in France, while Jean Castex finally did not announce new confinement on Friday evening.
On the one hand, the country is not an island, unlike Australia and New Zealand.
Cross-border trips are therefore, by nature, much more numerous.
And certain methods of fighting the epidemic in Asia, such as very strict surveillance on smartphones, seem to be difficult to transpose to France.
“Zero Covid is an ideal strategy in theory, but I don't think it is feasible in France or in Europe.
It has worked either in countries with very particular geography, such as New Zealand, or in countries that have been used and prepared for twenty years to fight against this kind of epidemic, particularly in Asia, or so not very democratic ” , summarizes the epidemiologist Mahmoud Zureik.
Last August, several researchers already wrote in The Lancet that, as the virus spreads to the four corners of the globe, "zeroing cases in a defined region is only possible with strict movement restrictions."
Disagreements between European countries
This pitfall, supporters of "Zero Covid" are also well aware.
“With open borders across Europe, a single country alone cannot keep the number of Covid-19 cases low.
Joint action and common objectives between countries are therefore essential, ”urged other researchers in the same journal on December 18.
According to them, sharply reducing the number of new cases is essential because this would allow in particular to "save lives", to limit the number of people suffering from the long-term effects of Covid-19, and not to block a part medical resources.
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“Yes, there should be a coordinated approach at European level.
But it is an opportunity to be seized in Europe.
When the Franco-German couple is in unison, we see that this can generate an impetus in Europe ”, wants to believe Antoine Flahault for his part.
6/6 - The second option (b) would make it possible to continue the current rhythm of vaccination, towards the whole population, during the summer and the autumn and then to hope to turn the page.
The question is whether Westerners would accept such an approach.
- Antoine FLAHAULT (@FLAHAULT) January 24, 2021
But is it even possible?
In the matter of borders alone, the 27 countries of the European Union have never really managed to come to an agreement.
One example among many others: when the first cases of the variant appeared in the south-east of England were identified, each large state decided on its own whether or not to restrict travel with the other side of the Channel.
"It would not work at the level of France only but it would take the agreement of the 27 European countries to get there", summarizes Mahmoud Zureik, skeptical.
"As much as I do not believe in the zero Covid objective, I also think that if France closed its borders, this could lead others to do it", judge for his part Jean-François Eliaou, LREM deputy for Hérault and immunologist doctor.
The hope of vaccination to "eradicate" the disease
Moreover, if it was "possible" to want to stop the circulation of the virus at the start of the epidemic "given that the distribution was then very limited", highlights Mahmoud Zureik, it is much more complicated today.
Emmanuel Macron had set a target of 5,000 new per day at the end of the last confinement.
But the counter ended up showing more than double as of December 15.
And it has now risen above 20,000 cases per day on average, despite the curfew at 6 pm in about twenty departments in early January and then for all of France.
PODCAST. Covid-19: why the government has toughened deconfinement
The authors of the article in The Lancet in August called for their sides not to confuse "eradication" and "elimination" of the virus or disease.
The first is to 'reduce to zero' the number of cases in a given period, while the second aims to eliminate all human transmission over time in a country or region.
To achieve this second objective, many countries around the world - including France - already share a weapon: vaccination.
"Only a strategy to reduce the circulation of the virus accompanied by a vaccination campaign will make it possible to get out of it once and for all," concludes Mahmoud Zureik.
For the moment, and as the World Health Organization warned in early December, the gradual arrival of vaccines "does not mean zero Covid".