Cold and hot. «After eight weeks of improvement in the epidemic situation, the circulation of the virus has started to rise again”, lamented Friday morning 16, Laetitia Huiart, scientific director of Public Health France, during a press briefing.
At the same time, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Wednesday September 14 that the end of the pandemic was ” at hand “. So, are we really heading towards an exit from the Covid-19 crisis?
Those under 20 are the most affected
In this period of back to school, France, at first, rather takes the direction of an eighth wave. Infections due to Covid-19 are increasing. According to Public Health France, 33,263 new cases of Covid-19 were detected on Thursday September 15 compared to 19,866 the previous week.
The rise in recent days is “mainly worn by people under 20”, especially children between 9 and 11 years old, reports Public Health France. This is partly explained by the fact that “children are less well vaccinated than adults”, specifies the institution.
The hegemony of the Omicron variant
The majority of contaminations are due to the Omicron variant, still just as contagious (it is the cause of 94.8% of reinfections since March 2021), but with a lesser severity. “We knew that the number of cases was going to increase. But it is a variant that we know well», confirms virologist Yannick Simonin.
Even if the specialists are not yet able to grasp the importance of this epidemic resumption, the hospital indicators are experiencing a drop of 16% with 1,925 hospitalizations against 2,303 last week. The number of deaths is also down 29% with 176 deaths this week, compared to 248 a week earlier. But “Hospital indicators are still out of step” with the contaminations, recalled Laetitia Huiart.
The importance of the vaccine
The virologist Yannick Simonin is in any case not worried about this recovery: “New vaccines will arrive, a large part of the French population is already immunized”, he lists.
However, this specialist in viral diseases recommends “to update the vaccination coverage”, even for people who are not at risk. The recommendations of the High Authority for Health concerning the next vaccination campaign, especially for the youngest, should arrive in the coming days.
“The end of the pandemic does not mean the disappearance of Covid-19”
The optimistic message from the head of the WHO last Wednesday is not incompatible with the French situation. Yannick Simonin insists on the fact that “The end of the pandemic does not mean the disappearance of Covid-19”but that over a long time we could hope to know “a more seasonal and more endemic Covid-19”. “We are approaching a normality equivalent to that of flu episodes, with a bearable hospital impact for society. »
In the meantime, everyone should continue to “respect barrier gestures”, says the specialist. Precautions that should be “good habits” according to him, to deal durably with Covid-19, but also with other diseases such as gastroenteritis or the flu, which “cocirculates with the Covid-19” as Public Health France reminds us. Especially since beyond Omicron, “we are not immune to a new variant”reminds, vigilant, the institution.