He answers this Wednesday morning on the phone in an affected voice. At La Pitié-Salpêtrière, the Parisian establishment where Professor Eric Caumes practices, a 60-year-old man carrying the coronavirus, died during the night. “It is in hospitals that the situation can get worse,” warns the head of the infectious diseases department, on deck since the start of the epidemic.
Before arriving at La Salpêtrière, the patient was hospitalized in the Oise, without being diagnosed. Should we fear other contaminations?
ERIC CAUMES. Yes, we risk living the Italian scenario. It is unstoppable. I say it and repeat it. By dint of rushing the sick, the epidemic will intensify in hospitals. We will have to change our strategy.
What to do then?
Let people who do not have severe forms stay at home! This will avoid contamination as it is known in Italy or China. Today, we are exhausted with people who have runny noses while their presence in the hospital can contaminate more fragile people. For all of us, yes, we must stop shaking hands, wash our hands better and open the windows to ventilate our homes. From the moment a virus kills very little, as is the case with Covid-19, it is difficult to detect.
Do you mean that we are too alarmist?
I’m not saying there isn’t a problem, but I feel like we’re doing everything we can to spread panic. Why don’t health authorities say that the patients who die in Italy are often 80 years old, from cancer or from other pathologies? And in France, why don’t they insist that the two deceased people had other illnesses? There is a real communication problem. The result is that people are afraid. The Covid-19 is, however, just one more coronavirus.
Are there others in circulation?
Yes, there are now four in France. It is estimated that they cause 400 to 500 severe forms each year. But it also gives simple colds and coughs. We are used to living with it. And remember, the winter flu can kill up to 1000 people a week! We know this number and, paradoxically, we continue not to get vaccinated. It’s surreal.
