Hello,
“
A summer under Covid, 2nd edition
”.
It could be a poster for a festival.
This is the reality that is imposed on the French little by little.
They thought they were free, all busy booking a caravan, lodging or train tickets, and now this damn Delta variant is playing spoilers.
"
It risks spoiling the holidays and spoiling the summer,
" warned the Minister of Health.
Yes, unless vaccination protects hospital services from congestion.
For this, will it be necessary to impose vaccination on everyone, or at the very least, on caregivers?
And why not offer more freedom to the vaccinated ... or a donut?
Good reading,
Camille Lestienne, journalist at
Le Figaro
1. The Delta variant hovers over the summer of the French
Will the Delta variant spoil the carefree summer.
STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS
Will the fourth wave break out this summer?
"
This variant is formidable, and it is extremely fast,
" warned the government spokesperson, leaving the Defense Council on Wednesday.
No coercive measures have been taken but a new Defense Council is scheduled for next Monday.
The Delta variant today concerns more than 40% of positive cases.
The number of cases rose above 4,000 yesterday for the first time in nearly a month.
The fourth wave announced last week by Olivier Véran seems inevitable and could spoil our summer.
Or not.
"
If we are talking about a resumption in the number of contaminations, yes, then we can fear such a wave at the end of July, as in the United Kingdom.
It can very well happen, but if we are talking in terms of hospitalizations and deaths, clearly no, at least not in the summer,
”says a doctor specializing in public health.
Thanks to the vaccination of populations, the contaminations and hospitalizations curves are uncorrelated.
Should we then still base health decisions on the incidence rate?
According to specialists interviewed by
Le Figaro
, this measure still makes sense but it would be necessary to add the vaccine status of infected people to best judge the necessary measures.
Read also: The epidemic resumption threatens Macron's five-year term again
The impact on the holidays.
For all specialists, it is already too late to close the borders and thus slow down the progression of the Delta variant. Controls, on the other hand, could be improved. And for the French who would like to cross the borders, is it risky to go on vacation in the countries where the Delta variant circulates? The risk of contamination is not greater than in France but vigilance is recommended on the possibility of being treated on site in the event of symptoms or hospitalization. Clément Beaune, the Secretary of State for European Affairs, however advises the French not to book a stay in Spain or Portugal. In France, between the ice cream vendors and the street vendors, missionaries of a new type will survey the hot sand and the places of leisure.2,000 anti-Covid mediators, otherwise called LAC, were thus hired by the government to ensure the reminder of barrier gestures and convince the French to be vaccinated. Sometimes the syringe is not enough. This is the case of expatriates vaccinated with serums not approved in Europe, forced to observe quarantine during their holidays in France. "
Of the fifteen days planned in France, we have just spent ten locked up in our house,
”plague a witness vaccinated at Sputnik V.
Read also: Why you should be vaccinated to travel this summer
The numbers to remember
997
patients in critical care (-35 since the day before)
7,539
hospitalized patients
4,081
new cases detected in 24 hours
28
deaths in 24 hours (111,288 deaths since the start of the epidemic)
Source: Public Health France as of July 7
2. Vaccination: incite or coerce?
This summer, the government would like to encourage hesitant French people to get vaccinated.
SARAH MEYSSONNIER / REUTERS
Oblige caregivers.
Public words follow one another to encourage the French to get vaccinated. According to Gabriel Attal, "
the time has come for general mobilization and mass vaccination
"; for Thomas Fatôme, head of the Health Insurance, “
there is no reason to wait until the start of the school year. The vaccination is now
”. One of the measures envisaged to raise the curve of first-time injections in free fall is the vaccination obligation for caregivers. A consensus seems to be settling among scientists, politicians and the French. Jean Castex consults local elected officials this Thursday and Emmanuel Macron could announce it himself according to information collected by
Le Figaro
.
In Italy, the measure was taken on April 1: caregivers have the choice between the vaccine or the layoff.
Today, reports our correspondent, "
a little more than 97%
" of them are vaccinated even if 300 caregivers have taken legal action in Italy to have this vaccination obligation lifted.
As for imposing it on the rest of the population, no head of state has yet dared to do so.
"
There is obviously a taboo on the question at the global level
", decrypts an expert with the
Figaro
even if some use roundabout means.
Read also: Covid-19: "The vaccine obligation could fuel the feeling of mistrust"
Encourage the French.
Before forcing, we can try to convince like some foreign countries. In Greece, a travel culture pass is offered to young people to encourage them to come and be vaccinated. In the United States, it's a beer or a donut. In France, the CNIL validated on Wednesday, under conditions, the sending to treating physicians of the list of their unvaccinated patients, at their request only. Then, the list must be deleted by the doctor "
at the end of the awareness campaign
". Government communication, however, is beginning to bear fruit. Appointments are on the rise. A "
thrill
" thatit is necessary to consolidate according to the authorities which envisage multiple operations this summer like "
ephemeral places of vaccination
»Mounted around festivals.
To avoid the saturation of hospitals, it is also necessary to target the most fragile populations, in particular the elderly and diabetics, a quarter of whom have not yet been vaccinated.
But for that to happen, vaccine dose deliveries need to keep pace.
Those of Pfizer will drop over the summer when the American vaccine represents 76% of first-time injections.
The AstraZeneca, meanwhile, is shunned by the French.
From this week, the full doses of the Anglo-Swedish serum will be given to Covax, the mechanism for redistribution of vaccines to the most disadvantaged countries.
Read also: Skeptics, undecided, suspicious: these French people who say no to the vaccine
The numbers to remember
35.1 million
people received a first dose (52.1% of the population).
25.8 million
people have a complete vaccination schedule (38.8% of the population).
Source: Public Health France as of July 7
3. And elsewhere, how are you?
In the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson maintains the "freedom day" announced for July 19.
POOL / REUTERS
United Kingdom
.
Despite the spectacular increase in cases linked to the Delta variant, Boris Johnson maintains the “day of freedom” announced for July 19.
On that day, all the restrictions will fall, even the wearing of masks in closed places.
The latter measure, however, is causing criticism and concern.
On the other hand, no relaxation of the constraints at the borders yet, perhaps for July 26, the start of the holidays for the British.
Read also: Covid-19: do vaccines really make it possible to break down the masks in the United Kingdom?
Indonesia.
The archipelago is submerged by the Delta variant and experiences the same scenes of chaos experienced by India a few weeks ago.
There, unlike the UK, few are vaccinated: only 5% of the population.
Worse still, doubts settle on the Chinese Sinovac vaccine produced on the spot.
"
Nearly 1000 members of the nursing staff, including 400 doctors, have already succumbed to the virus: among them, twenty had yet been fully vaccinated with Sinovac
", reports our correspondent Sébastien Falletti.
Brazil.
Jair Bolsonaro finds himself on the dock after the health disaster in Manaus. Brazil has more than 500,000 dead from Covid. A parliamentary inquiry has been opened into the management of the pandemic in the Brazilian capital where the government has stubbornly promoted a chloroquine-based cocktail instead of managing the shortage of hospital beds and gas cylinders.
“The Ministry of Health has remained brainless. Everyone is either radical Bolsonarist or military, ”
denounces a virologist.
Spain.
To the chagrin of revelers from all over the world, Catalonia is closing the doors of its nightclubs.
"
The epidemiological situation in Catalonia is extremely complicated
", warned the spokesperson for the Catalan autonomous government while the chief epidemiologist of the Ministry of Health admitted that the figures were "
not good at all
" in the whole country.
4. The quote
Since vaccines contain mRNA and not live virus, the vaccine is unlikely to affect semen parameters.
Doctors from the Department of Urology at the Miami School of Medicine (United States)
The Covid-19 pandemic has continued to fuel conspiracy theories and false rumors. Since the appearance of vaccines, misinterpretations of scientific studies have circulated and concerns have arisen for a lack of information.
Le Figaro
tackled two questions this week: on the one hand, do RNA vaccines affect the quality of sperm? American doctors have investigated whether messenger RNA vaccines have an impact on sperm, and therefore on fertility. Their study is reassuring: the researchers found no deterioration in sperm parameters following vaccination. On the other hand, in messenger RNA vaccines, is the Spike protein
"toxic and dangerous"?
for the man ?
These are the words of a Canadian researcher citing serious scientific studies that have ignited the powders in the world of vaccinosceptics.
But the interpretations of these studies are wrong and have been denied by the authors themselves.
"
You should know,
recalls journalist Mayeul Aldeber
t, that the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine is one of the most closely monitored drugs and that there is no evidence today that can alert the scientific community
".
5. Update on the latest restrictions
Latest gauges and sanitary pass.
Since June 30, except in the Landes department which had maintained the restrictions until July 6, the gauges have been lifted in restaurants, shops, cinemas, theaters or museums. Standing concerts have resumed with a limit of 75% of spectators in indoor establishments, and 100% outdoors. On the other hand, events bringing together more than 1,000 people are subject to the health pass, as are the discotheques which will reopen their doors on July 9.
Wearing a mask
is always compulsory in enclosed spaces and outdoors when distancing is not possible (markets, queues, station platforms, etc.).
Read also: Health pass: documents to provide, places concerned ... Answers to all your questions
Completed telecommuting 100%
.
In business, a new protocol entered into force on July 1.
While companies have taken back control of the organization of working time within the framework of social dialogue, the government recommends the pace of two days of remote work per week.
The gauge in the canteens has been lifted, as has the limit of six guests per table.
Wearing a mask remains compulsory unless the employee is two meters away from his colleagues.
A health pass for travel.
Since July 1, Europeans can travel more easily within the continent thanks to certified evidence of vaccination or negative tests brought together in a single document.
In digital or paper format.
Please note, however, that each country can continue to apply specific rules.
The
Figaro
travel service
informs you with a regularly updated article and map.
Read also: The European health pass comes into force on July 1: all the answers to your questions
6. Reflexes to keep
The virus is transmitted by droplets and aerosols.
The barrier gestures detailed by the Ministry of Health must be observed to protect themselves and others:
Wash your hands regularly or use hydroalcoholic gel
Cough or sneeze into the crease of your elbow
Use disposable tissues
Wear a mask in public areas when the distance of two meters cannot be respected
Maintain a distance of at least two meters from others
Limit social contacts as much as possible (6 maximum)
Avoid touching your face
Air the rooms as often as possible, at least a few minutes every hour
Greet without shaking hands and stop hugging
7. What to do in case of symptoms?
The disease manifests itself with several symptoms, most often cough and fever.
The most important thing is to get tested.
According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, you should, in case of symptoms, stay at home and contact your doctor who will prescribe a test.
While waiting for the result, you must isolate yourself, wear a mask and prepare a list of people you could have infected.
Read also: Test, isolation: the procedure to follow in case of suspicion of Covid-19
See you next week.
