Hello,
The state of health emergency introduced in March 2020 and extended twice ends on July 31. France has not yet finished with the epidemic, the seventh wave of which is hitting the country today. The government therefore intends to keep some weapons against the virus: extend health monitoring through the collection of data and keep the possibility of imposing a health pass at the borders, a measure considered derisory by some. A bill will be debated next week in the National Assembly. And if the government still does not plan to reinstate the compulsory wearing of masks, local elected officials have the freedom to do so. In the metropolis of Nice, the mask will be required in public transport from next Monday. Finally, the last tool in the fight against the epidemic: the second vaccination booster or fourth dose to avoid serious forms and protect the most fragile.
Good reading,
Camille Lestienne, journalist at Le Figaro.
Health pass. Faced with the seventh wave of Covid, the government is trying to keep tools available to fight the epidemic. While the state of health emergency is due to end on July 31, a bill "now provisionally a monitoring and health security system in the fight against Covid-19" has been the subject of initial debates. Tuesday in the Law Committee, before his arrival in the Hemicycle on July 11. It only includes two articles: one allows the extension of the Si-dep and Si-vac systems for monitoring the epidemic through the collection of personal data of patients affected by the virus, the second offers the possibility for the government to reinstating travel restrictions abroad. A health pass, validated by a complete vaccination schedule, an up-to-date Covid-19 recovery certificate or a negative test result, could thus be claimed at the borders during the summer. But is such a measure useful when the virus is already present on the territory? “Covid is not an import or export disease, it is developing very well with us without outside help”, comments Benjamin Davido, infectious disease specialist at Garches hospital. On the other hand, for Professor Philippe Amouyel, establishing a health pass at the borders would make it possible to "delay the importation of a new variant from abroad". A tool to combine with others: vaccine, mask and test.
Mask. Has the obligation to wear a mask in transport been abandoned too quickly? This is what Patrick Pelloux said on Europe 1 on Wednesday. For the president of the Association of Emergency Physicians of France, ending this requirement was "a mistake". This decision was taken in a moment of “euphoria” by the former Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, during the legislative campaign, pointed out the doctor who also calls for the reintegration of unvaccinated caregivers. The government decided to stay at the recommendation stage. Elisabeth Borne recalled on TF1 that she was not considering a “national obligation measure” to wear a mask. But locally it is possible: the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, announced on Wednesday that he had issued an order, “with other mayors of the metropolis”, to make the mask again compulsory in metropolitan transport from next Monday. . Abroad, it is compulsory on public transport in Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Austria.
Covid-related hospitalizations will further increase "in the coming days", according to new projections published Thursday by researchers at the Institut Pasteur. As for the peak of the epidemic, its date is still uncertain. Yesterday, more than 160,000 contaminations were counted in 24 hours. The 7-day average rose to 127,250 cases recorded daily from 123,261 the day before. Simon Cauchemez, head of the modeling teams, however, displays a certain optimism. “The growth rates of hospitalizations and the number of cases are decreasing in certain regions, and in particular in Île-de-France”, underlines the scientist with Le Figaro. “The last two waves were stopped without going through new constraints, he adds. We are no longer in a context where the number of cases is growing exponentially without encountering a limit. A significant portion of the population is immune. We know that immunity decreases over time, but there is not a total loss of the entire population.
The numbers to remember
Source: Public Health France as of July 7, 2022
Faced with the epidemic, the government is calling on the French to update their vaccination schedule with a new booster dose. But who are the people affected by the fourth dose? Le Figaro takes stock of all special cases according to age groups. The effectiveness of vaccines against new variants legitimately raises questions. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna laboratories have successfully tested products against the historic Wuhan strain but also against the Omicron BA.1 variant. However, they are less effective against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. What to do then? Market vaccines against Omicron in the fall or wait and adapt them to new variants? The European Medicines Agency has yet to decide. According to infectious disease specialist Odile Launay, “presenting the Omicron spicule as a booster will generate a much better immune response than the current booster”. As for the recall with the vaccine developed by GSK-Sanofi that she studied, she detects a “pretty clear interest”. “The Sanofi-GSK vaccine containing spicules of the Beta variant allows a better rise in the level of neutralizing antibodies whatever the variant considered”, declares to Figaro the signatory of a study carried out by the AP-HP and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In China several million people are still confined. The big city of Xi'an will close all its restaurants, bars, places of worship and karaoke for a week, authorities said on Tuesday. In Shanghai, where new Covid cases have been reported, residents fear restrictions will return five weeks after a two-month lockdown was lifted.
Since March 14, the health restrictions linked to the epidemic have been mostly abandoned.
The mask is no longer compulsory in transport but it is strongly recommended in places of high traffic for positive people, in particular for contact cases at risk, symptomatic people and health professionals.
The health pass (vaccine, negative test, recovery certificate) is always requested at the entrance to hospitals, retirement homes and establishments for the disabled. It is required when crossing borders for travel to/from France.
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:
The disease is most often manifested by cough, fever or feeling feverish, loss of smell and taste, fatigue. If after a few days, you have trouble breathing or are out of breath, you should contact 15. The symptoms would be lighter with the Omicron variant, similar to those of a cold: sore throat, headache, runny nasal.
In case of signs of the disease, the most important thing is to get tested. The test, PCR or antigen, remains free for non-vaccinated people on medical prescription or after having been identified as a contact case by Health Insurance. In the event of a positive result on a self-test, a confirmation PCR test is recommended. While waiting for the result, you must isolate yourself and wear a mask. If the test is positive, isolation must last 7 days from the first symptoms for vaccinated people, 10 days for unvaccinated people. It can be broken on D 5 or D 7 respectively, if you have a negative test and you have had no symptoms for 48 hours. Good to know, since March 21, 2022, contact cases no longer need to isolate themselves, vaccinated or not.
See you next week.
