Hello,
At the end of the month, we are entering a post-Covid era. Not that the virus has disappeared, quite the contrary! It is still present and we risk experiencing a few more epidemic outbreaks linked to new variants next fall or winter. However, the state of health emergency ends on July 31. The new bill examined in the Senate on Wednesday only provides for the extension of the collection of data necessary for health monitoring and the possible presentation of a negative test at the borders, but under very restricted conditions. It is also time to say goodbye to the Scientific Council, which will be dissolved at the end of the month after two years and four months of good and loyal service, but also hiccups and misunderstandings with the government.
Good reading,
Camille Lestienne, journalist at Le Figaro
Sanitary law. After a heated debate in the National Assembly last week and amputated from its article 2, the health bill was examined by senators on Wednesday after several modifications. The rapporteur Philippe Bas has introduced an amendment which formally repeals the exceptional regime for managing the health crisis. In addition, the senators have restored the possibility of imposing not a health pass but the presentation of a negative test at the borders under certain conditions: for Overseas France, depending on the saturation of hospitals and for foreign countries. in the event of the appearance of a new variant "likely to constitute a serious threat". This by decree and for a maximum of two months. Socialists and centrists lamented the abandonment of any reference to the vaccine as justification, "a bad blow to public health policy", according to the centrist group in the Senate. The text was approved yesterday Thursday in a joint committee and must still be voted on Monday in the National Assembly, then Tuesday in the Senate.
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Reintegration of caregivers. In addition, the Senate opens the “path” to the reintegration of non-vaccinated caregivers as soon as the health situation allows it and that the “medical reasons” for their exclusion have disappeared. “It would be a mistake,” said the Academy of Medicine on Tuesday when giving its opinion on this question defended last week by the Nupes and the RN. The Academy considers this measure risky for patients and ineffective in solving the difficulties of the hospital while stressing that “any refusal to be vaccinated motivated by personal convictions is respectable, but incompatible with the profession of caregiver”. The High Health Authority ruled on Friday and said it was “in favor of maintaining the obligation to vaccinate against (the) Covid-19 for personnel working in health and medico-social establishments”.
The Scientific Council bows out after “ 2 years and 4 months of diligent work, 300 meetings, 85 notes and various opinions ”. Created in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic in France, it will be officially dissolved on July 31 with the end of the state of emergency. The Sciences department of Le Figaro retraces the turbulent history of this committee made up of a dozen scientists and chaired by Professor Delfraissy, from its sensational entry into the lives of the French to the sometimes strained relations with the government. For the future, a “Committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks”, beyond the Covid pandemic alone, must take over from the Ministers of Health and Research.
Variants. “The Covid-19 pandemic is not over”. Before turning the page, the Scientific Council still wants to be “a compass”. Its latest advisory published on Tuesday is entitled “Living with variants” and warns that “we must expect the appearance of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 in the human population”. If the circulation of the virus tends to be endemic, it will certainly still experience “epidemic outbreaks” linked to the appearance of these new variants. Wearing a mask could at these times be reinstated in transport depending on the health situation, recommends the council.
Waves. And if the peak of the seventh wave has passed with a rapid decline in the number of cases, its effects on the population are still palpable. Tensions are being felt over paracetamol, prompting the Medicines Agency (ANSM) to recommend that pharmacies favor the dispensing of Doliprane, Dafalgan and Efferalgan by prescription and to limit it to two boxes for patients without a prescription. “Covid-19 remains a nasty, potentially fatal disease,” said WHO Europe director Hans Kluge. The organization warns of a “difficult” autumn and winter.
The numbers to remember
Source: Public Health France as of July 21, 2022
Elisabeth Borne leads by example. On Friday morning, the Prime Minister received her second booster dose to “spend a serene summer”. In an "epidemiological context which remains worrying" according to the Ministry of Health, the government decided last Wednesday to extend the administration of a second booster dose of anti-Covid vaccine to vulnerable people over the age of 18: women pregnant, people with comorbidities and those living in the entourage of fragile people. That is around five million people, which brings the number of French people eligible for this fourth dose to around 17 million. The day before, the Medicines Agency (ANSM) invited women affected by menstrual disorders that appeared after vaccination against Covid to declare them on the portal of the Ministry of Health (signalement.social-sante.gouv.fr). These adverse events have been closely monitored at national and European level since their detection, but for the time being no causal link has been established.
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, recovery certificate) is always requested at the entrance to hospitals, retirement homes and establishments for the disabled. This obligation should end 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.
