Spain, United Kingdom Morocco, Algeria, Australia … reconfiguration measures follow one another around the globe. Admittedly localized, these upsurges in Covid-19 cases around the world raise fears of the emergence of an inevitable second wave of contaminations in France. La Dépêche takes stock of the issue
Faced with a resurgence of cases of contamination coronavirus, many regions in the world are choosing reconfiguration (Melbourne in Australia, Leicester in the United Kingdom, Safi in Morocco, Catalonia and Galicia in Spain). According to the WHO, the peak of the pandemic is not yet reached. Wednesday, Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health, reminded Le Figaro that “the virus is still circulating”, not excluding “a rebound in the epidemic”.
Coronavirus: epidemic “accelerates” and peak is “not yet reached” according to WHO pic.twitter.com/tiIhAXxepU
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) July 8, 2020
Eric Caumes, head of the infectious diseases department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris interviewed by The Parisian, fears that a second wave will arrive this summer. Concerns shared by Doctor Pierre Delobel, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at the Toulouse University Hospital contacted by La Dépêche. “We are seeing small signals, including two new hospitalizations this week when we had none last month. We have also received some positive cases in the emergency room” he details.
“We veil our faces”
Eric Caumes points to the “great laxity” of the French authorities. In particular, the number of tests carried out each week is lower than the objectives posted for the containment. “Where are the 700,000 tests per week that we were promised? We don’t even do a third of them. We can’t afford this relaxation,” he added. For Dr Delobel, the problem comes from the few people who get tested, which he puts in parallel with the general atmosphere of relaxation that he observes in the French. “Currently, we are not using our screening capacity to the full. Even patients with symptoms are not tested,” he regrets.
Eric Caumes also questions the reopening of borders and a lack of controls at French airports which would facilitate the circulation of the virus. “Back in France, the only thing I was asked at the airport was if I had symptoms. Not a phone number, nothing!” he outraged himself in the columns of the Parisian. He would like to see a quarantine imposed on all passengers returning from an area considered to be at risk. “People potentially infected will continue to board, come and go from countries where the number of cases is exploding. We veil our faces and we do not do the job well when we know it, the Covid- 19 is a traveler’s pathology, “he said.
Pierre Delobel, he does not see checks at airports as an effective means to detect cases of coronavirus: “taking temperature is not a reliable enough way to detect the virus. The contagiousness is maximum in the first days , often before the onset of symptoms. In addition, half of the patients are asymptomatic. “
Jérôme Salomon does not rule out a second wave, but advocates caution. “It is essentially our behavior that conditions the epidemic recovery” he said Tuesday, calling on the French to drastically respect the barrier gestures and hygiene measures.
In Occitania, the fear of the Catalan neighbor
After the appearance of a new “cluster”, Catalonia ordered on July 4 the reconfiguration of more than 200,000 people. The next day, Galicia asked 70,000 of its inhabitants to stay at home. At the time of the first vacation departures and the reopening of European borders, this acceleration of the epidemic among our neighbors is causing concern, especially in Occitania, the border region of Catalonia.
[[#Coronavirus]L’#Occitanie there are currently an average of 14 positive cases per day.
To date, 59 people are hospitalized (including 10 in intensive care). There are 512 deaths in health establishments.
ud83d udccc Consult the last summary bulletin @ARS_OC pic.twitter.com/mDBcNpN0de— ARS Occitanie (@ARS_OC) July 3, 2020
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The Agence Régionale de Santé Occitanie calls for everyone’s vigilance and also warns against a relaxation with the start of the summer holidays. “The virus is still circulating. We must be careful” advises Catherine Choma, director of public health at ARS Occitanie, contacted by La Dépêche. Wearing a mask, regular hand washing, social distancing are therefore still a must this summer.
Pierre Delobel cites the traces of Covid-19 found in Paris wastewater as a reliable indicator of the fact that the virus is still present. “Hospitalizations are a late marker. Positive PCR tests and wastewater analyzes allow us to anticipate,” he adds. Anticipation necessary if a local reconfiguration should happen. “For a reconfiguration to be effective, it must be done early on a localized cluster. The larger the confined area, the greater the consequences, particularly economic,” he analyzes.
ARS Occitanie is closely monitoring the appearance of clusters in the region. “Above all, do not hesitate to call your doctor in case of symptoms and get tested,” she recalls. For its part, the prefect of the Occitanie region does not advise stays in Catalonia as long as “health measures are in place”.
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