Spring finally arrives on the whole of the French territory and many departments will see clear skies appear for the week of April 17, 2023. Nevertheless, it also marks the return ofan increase in pollen countbut above all an increase in positive cases of Covid-19. In fact, the site Public Health Francemanaged by the Ministry of Health, regularly presents epidemiological points. The last bulletin of April 13 does not bode well.
The Santé Publique France site records only nine waves of Covid-19 outbreaks so far. If the latter now seems to have become a classic viruslike the flu, we are not immune of a new wave. To prevent and not relive the situation of the start of the 2022 school year, the Minister of Health, Francois Brauncreated last September the Health Risk Monitoring and Anticipation Committee (COVARS). Indeed, after the triple epidemic of bronchiolitis, influenza and Covid-19, François Braun approached the creation of this committee as a “new crucial weapon”.
14 departments with worrying numbers of cases
As of March 31, 2023COVARS then published on the Official Journal an update on the evolution of the virus. It would seem that the virus is “in an endemo-epidemic phase with rebounds of lower amplitude with less violent health impact than the previous ones”. Nevertheless, the latter “still circulating at a rate and frequency that shows it has not become a “seasonal respiratory virus” like another (flu virus, bronchiolitis virus, etc…)”. Then discover in our slideshow below the departments where Covid-19 circulates the most.
For the Committee, we can therefore still not speak of a banal virus because of the increased risk of new epidemic waves linked to Covid-19. The report reveals that the positivity rate increased by almost 3 points between March 24 and 31, 2023. Thus, the Committee sends some instructions to all French people. Members recall that vaccination is always important and that’a first reminder in the spring of 2023 for people at high risk of severe form and infants is announced. A second reminder in the fall of 2023 will be possible for people at risk of severe form.
For people who are not at risk, it is still necessary to wear the mask indoors in case of sudden difficulty breathing. Finally, it is recommended to ventilate the rooms interiors in “private housing, in offices, places of collective catering, etc”.
Consult our slideshow below to find out if you are affected by these instructions in your department. The data takes into account the evolution of the incidence rate, i.e. the evolution of the number of cases, on the week of March 24 to 31, 2023.
