Hello,
A few days before a new major summer migration, parliamentarians have finally agreed on the provisions of the new health law. If the end of the exceptional health crisis management regime is well recorded for July 31, two tools remain at the disposal of the government: health monitoring and border control in the event of the appearance of threatening variants. The reintegration of unvaccinated caregivers is refused by the executive. There is another effective solution to combat the disease: the antiviral Paxlovid. But too complex to prescribe, it is underused, doctors regret. Finally, the investigation into the origin of Covid continues after the publication of two studies which again point to the Wuhan market as the focus of the first contaminations.
Good reading,
Camille Lestienne, journalist at Le Figaro.
Health security. The bill "Monitoring and health security in the fight against Covid-19" was finally adopted Tuesday in Parliament after being hotly discussed and challenged in the National Assembly, reworked in the Senate and then dubbed into a joint joint committee (CMP ). The final text repeals the exceptional crisis management regime. The executive can no longer put in place a vaccination pass, curfew or confinement without the prior agreement of Parliament. The health pass can no longer be requested in health establishments after July 31. Two devices remain available to the government:
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Unvaccinated caregivers. The bill also paves the way for the reinstatement of unvaccinated caregivers. But the executive has already expressed its refusal. "The Academy of Medicine, the Scientific Council and the High Authority for Health have a convergent opinion (...) it is negative" and "we follow the advice of scientists", announced last Friday the Minister of Health François Braun while promising to meet the trade unions to "see how we plan to get out of it maybe in a few months". In the meantime, what has become of the suspended caregivers? From 15,000 last fall, they would be only 3,600 according to the French Hospital Federation (FHF). Disappointed by the opinion of the High Health Authority in favor of the obligation to vaccinate against Covid for caregivers, many of them were forced to turn the page not without sadness, “a heartbreak”, and many “ empty passages ”as they entrust to Figaro. Others keep the hope of working again in the public hospital.
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France. The epidemic rebound of Covid-19 continues to ebb in France. Yesterday, Wednesday, there were 20,662 people hospitalized, including 1,253 patients in intensive care units.
The numbers to remember
Source: Public Health France as of July 27, 2022
United States. The Covid will have been more deadly across the Atlantic in 2021 than in 2020. With 415,000 deaths, the virus is the third cause of death in the United States for the second consecutive year behind cancer and cardiovascular disease according to data published by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In 2022, the pace slows down sharply. About 167,000 Americans have died from Covid since the start of the year, when they were 220,000 over the same period in 2021. However, it takes a little more hindsight to quantify the repercussions on demography. The Covid has often only accelerated foreseeable deaths, leaving the possibility of seeing a rebalancing established in the coming years.
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Covid pill. Although its effectiveness is proven, the antiviral drug Paxlovid remains very little used six months after its authorization. However, it reduces the risk of a serious form by 87.8% in patients with comorbidities or immunosuppression. In the general opinion of health professionals, the main obstacle to its generalization lies in its complexity of prescription. “Things must have changed in the fall. With the BA.5, we have seen very fragile, vulnerable and elderly people return to the hospital. We must be able to do better, and I hope that we will take advantage of the months of August and September to look into the question”, indicates Professor Denis Malvy, head of the infectiology department at the Bordeaux University Hospital, member of the Scientific Council. In the United States where treatment is widely deployed, President Joe Biden, 79, recently stricken with Covid, was able to benefit from the antiviral and can now come out of isolation after a negative test.
Nasal vaccine. A lot of hope is placed in the nasal vaccine capable of blocking the transmission of Covid. Its arrival is however not for now despite the efforts of a dozen laboratories currently working on it. Problem of funding, regulatory obstacles, scientists are asking the authorities to strengthen their efforts to accelerate the development of this promising solution.
China. The Wuhan market returns to the center of suspicions about the origin of the Covid. While the trail of a leak from the laboratory located in the same city was revived last year, two studies published in the journal Science conclude that the Covid-19 pandemic started well in the market of the Chinese city and point thus a very probable animal origin of the virus. The researchers showed that the first cases identified were indeed concentrated around this market. And while the animal that may have acted as an intermediary between bats, carriers of coronavirus, and humans has not been identified, scientists stress that it is important to understand where the animals sold on the Wuhan market, in order to minimize future risks. These two studies are an element to add “to the scientific investigation” on the origins of the pandemic but not definitive proof, underlined the WHO on Wednesday, specifying that “all the hypotheses” remained for the moment “on the table” and that the investigation should continue despite China's reluctance.
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Since March 14, 2022, health restrictions related 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 and in particular for positive people, contact cases at risk, symptomatic people and health professionals.
The health pass (vaccine, negative test, certificate of recovery) will soon no longer be required at the entrance to hospitals, retirement homes and establishments for the disabled. This obligation ends with the end of the state of health emergency on July 31, 2022.
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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.
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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.
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Have a nice summer everyone.
