Posted Dec 19 2022 at 18:41Updated Dec 19. 2022 at 19:09
With the approach of holidays and family reunions, the authorities and the French must “amplify as quickly as possible” efforts to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by winter epidemics warns the Committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks (Covars), in a notice made public on Monday.
The group of experts responsible for informing the decisions of the public authorities had decided at the end of November to work on the Covid-19 epidemic, given the resumption of the epidemic, the strong epidemic of bronchiolitis and the arrival of the flu.
Decline of the Covid epidemic
The coronavirus epidemic now seems to be entering a phase of decline just like that of bronchiolitis, noted virologist Bruno Lina on Monday. The pressure of the Covid on hospitals can still be felt and the flu epidemic is however mounting, he temporized.
Despite repeated calls from the government to wear the mask, especially in crowded places, “there is a very low level of wearing a mask in public transport and other closed places”, notes the Covars. Faced with this attitude, the committee does not decide on the idea of forcing the French to cover their nose and mouth, which has been the subject of debate for several weeks, but lists its advantages and disadvantages.
Wearing a mask: a “citizen gesture”
Opting for an obligation should have “a quick effect” on respect for wearing a mask, advances the Covars, and would allow those who already do it not to be “stigmatized”. However, “we are now entering a new history of infectious diseases, where each year there will be a triple winter epidemic which will require the same gestures. It is a little difficult to envisage the use of the obligation each year, ”argued Brigitte Autran, the president of Covars. In other words, you might as well act without forcing to transform the wearing of a mask into a “citizen gesture”.
In any case, the Covars, recommends “reinforcing the accessibility / the free availability of masks in all places where they are necessary”. He also pleads to “limit the cost” and “ensure its distribution to all people wishing to use it, beyond the care currently limited to severely immunocompromised people”.
Vaccinate against Covid and the flu
The committee of scientists also encourages the French to vaccinate. With regard to Covid, the health authorities, who have just opened up the possibility of vaccinating toddlers, first wanted to target the most fragile people and the elderly as a priority for the recall campaign.
Worried about the low increase in vaccinations, the executive has however insisted in recent days on the fact that everyone could benefit from a booster dose. The calls for vaccination seem to have been heard, welcomes the Covars, which notes in its opinion “a marked acceleration in the rate of vaccinations for two weeks”.
The Committee insists on intensifying the vaccination campaign against both Covid-19 and influenza and on the possibility of combining the two injections. “Even if we are not fragile ourselves, it is absolutely necessary to protect society because by protecting society, we also protect the hospital”, also underlined Brigitte Autran on Monday.