If the number of Covid-19 cases drops in fenua, the new strain of the virus worries the authorities. More contagious, it has already reached Europe and might even be at the fenua. A fear that the government does not hide: “We know, for example, that there are English people who are there at the moment. It’s not just the English. There are also people who come from France and we know that the variant has been circulating in France for several weeks now. So it’s not at all impossible, but it’s not certain ”, declared Tuesday the Minister of Health Jacques Raynal. “It is impossible to tell you whether this variant has already happened or not. He may already be there or he may not be there “, estimated his side the President of the Country Edouard Fritch.
Impossible to know… because for the moment Polynesia does not have the means to detect it. A PCR test is not enough: virus sequencing must be performed to reveal the variant gene: “We have the machines to do it. We need to have specific reagents to be able to sequence the virus. Once it has been sequenced, it must be sent to France to have the certification. It will take some time but I think that within 15 days, 3 weeks, we will be able to sequence the virus ”, says Jacques Raynal.
In the meantime, should more restrictive measures be taken? According to the President of the Country, it is not unthinkable, but out of the question to harm the economy again: “If we look at the result, I’m not sure that’s what will slow down the spread of covid, namely reset everything or continue as we do today with a much more flexible management of activities in this country. But indeed, we will have to take measures to delay the arrival of this virus as long as possible. ”
According to Édouard Fritch, if the epidemic were to resume, the country could face it but not beyond the month of June. A major test campaign must be launched within 15 days in order to obtain an accurate mapping of the virus in Polynesia.
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