Hello,
The question is on everyone's mind as the Covid is making a comeback and bedridden our neighbour, friend or colleague: will the virus, and with it its share of restrictions, invite itself under the umbrella and ruin the vacation? Specialists are counting on a peak of the new wave at the end of July when hospitalizations are already on the rise. The government, for the moment, appeals to the civic sense of the French and asks them, without obligation, to wear a mask in transport and closed places. At the borders, however, the health pass could be required again. Fragile people are also encouraged to receive their second booster dose of vaccination against Covid. Measures to consider when you know that thousands of French people are still suffering from symptoms due to long Covid today.
Good reading,
Camille Lestienne, journalist at Le Figaro.
Seventh wave. It is a new wave which is announced for the summer and which could reach its peak at the end of July. With nearly 125,000 positive cases detected yesterday, the Covid epidemic is experiencing a real resurgence due to the new BA.4 and BA.5 variants. The bar of two million tests in one week was crossed yesterday and hospitalizations are on the rise again. However, the models are difficult to establish today as the immunity profiles differ. For specialist Mircea Sofonea, holidays and the return of barrier gestures could curb contamination. What do we know about these Omicron derivatives from South Africa? The symptoms differ a little from the other variants: infected people suffer more easily from nausea, vomiting, digestive pain. There are also more sore throats and swallowing problems. However, “the lungs are not attacked as with the Delta”, reassures the infectiologist Gilles Pialoux.
The numbers to remember
Source: Public Health France as of June 30, 2022
The return of the health pass? The new Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, may say she is confident of holding festivals this summer, without “reducing the gauges” or other “constraints”, concern reigns. Three days before the start of the Tour de France, the Union Cycliste Internationale decided not to isolate a positive but asymptomatic cyclist at the risk of causing cascading contamination. So is our summer going to be ruined by the upsurge in cases? If no summer restrictions are announced, there could be border changes as the state of health emergency ends on July 31. A bill has been sent to the Council of State providing for a compulsory health pass from the age of 12 for any trip “to or from French territory, Corsica or one of the communities” Overseas. And this from August 1st. The text “will be the subject of discussions, before its presentation in the Council of Ministers, with the political forces, as we have always done”, specified the cabinet of Brigitte Bourguignon.
A masked summer? In the meantime, it is time for recommendations, in particular that of wearing a mask in closed places. On Monday, the Minister of Health “asked” the French to put the mask back on transport. “I will not go as far as the obligation but I (the) request. [...]. It's almost a civic duty,” said Brigitte Bourguignon. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne went further on Tuesday by asking prefects and health authorities to encourage the wearing of masks “in crowded places” and “enclosed spaces”. Already the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has said he is ready to make it compulsory “on the 2500 kilometers of transport networks” that he manages. Finally, on Wednesday, the CEO of the SNCF called on travelers to wear the mask. But would restoring the wearing of masks in transport be useful? “Even if the mask does not completely prevent the transmission of the coronavirus, it greatly reduces its risk, the infectious dose in the event of infection and therefore the risk of serious forms and long Covid”, summarizes Antoine Flahault. However, the question remains political and requires the support of the population, who believed they were finally out of the tunnel. For Jean-François Delfraissy, the government “was right” not to make the mask compulsory again. “We went from a period of injunctions to a recommendation. I am for this attitude of recommendation, and the Scientific Council in general, ”he said on RTL on Wednesday.
Fourth dose. The other civic action that could help save the summer is vaccination. The 64-year-old health minister herself received a fourth dose of the vaccine, last week called on those over 60 or who are immunocompromised to do the same. A quarter of eligible people have received their second booster shot against Covid, a “clearly insufficient” rate, according to the government. This fourth dose is however relevant now. If Professor Alain Fischer, president of the council of orientation of the vaccine strategy, is conscious of the lassitude of the French, it remains convinced that “it is necessary to protect now the people at the risk, to prevent that they do not fall ill in the coming weeks.” In addition, a sixth vaccine against Covid has received authorization from the European health authorities. Based on inactivated virus, Valneva's serum could convince people hostile to messenger RNA, but the European Union announced in May that it was considering canceling its order.
Covid long. The Figaro Health supplement provides an update this week on Covid long, this new chronic disease which impacts the health of many people even after a mild form of Covid-19. In March, the Ministry of Health estimated at 700,000 the number of French people with symptoms beyond three months, and at 70,000 those requiring care in specific structures. Fatigue, heart palpitations, digestive problems, dermatological, the symptoms are diverse. “All organs can be affected. But the most common signs are overwhelming fatigue, shortness of breath and brain fog: difficulty finding words, doing two things at the same time, putting up with noise,” explains Prof. Dominique Salmon-Ceron, infectious disease specialist at the Hotel Dieu in Paris. Several teams of scientists around the world are looking for explanations for this phenomenon. Persistence of the virus or deregulation of the immune response, the tracks are multiple.
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.
