Epidemiologist and member of the Scientific Council Arnaud Fontanet explains that the transmission of Covid-19 mainly takes place during private meetings, between friends or family.
- Family or friendly meals are the first vectors of transmission of Covid-19 in France.
- “The English variant of the coronavirus will become the majority around March 1” on our territory, according to Arnaud Fontanet, epidemiologist and member of the Scientific Council.
“The transmission is done a lot with family or friends. Teleworking protects, but contaminations are less frequent in the office than in October. (…) The frequentation of shops, religious places or public transport does not increase the risk of infection either.” It is with these words that Arnaud Fontanet, epidemiologist and member of the Scientific Council, presented the results of the latest ComCor study carried out for the Pasteur Institute, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) published this Sunday, February 7. Work and public places are now less at risk of contagion than private places or events, such as meals or meetings with friends or family.
The mask, forgotten meals with family or friends
This assessment follows the trend of the first two studies by the Pasteur Institute, which highlighted an increased risk of being infected in bars and restaurants. If these are now closed, the vectors of transmission remain family and friends.
The reason is simple: with loved ones, sanitary measures and barrier gestures are often forgotten. Wearing a mask, imposed in the company and outside, is not always respected during private meetings, especially during meals. The risk is therefore increased because the virus is transmitted mainly by droplets expelled by the mouth and nose when speaking, coughing, sneezing, or even when breathing. It is for this reason that it is imperative to keep your mask on, even with loved ones and, above all, in closed places.
The English variant will become the majority around March 1
In his interview with the JDD, Arnaud Fontanet also discussed the English variant of the coronavirus. “If we continue on this trajectory (…), we will reach 30-35% in mid-February and the number of hospital admissions will then be around 2000 per day. The variant will become the majority around March 1″, indicates this member of the Scientific Council, whose recommendations guide the executive.
According to the epidemiologist, the English variant was responsible for 3.3% of new contaminations in France on January 7 and 8, and 14% at the end of the month. “It is a transmissible disease, the growth, in epidemic phase, can only be exponential. This means that the number of new cases from one week to the next does not grow linearly but exponentially,” he develops.
The English variant would be more contagious and more lethal
We must therefore redouble our efforts and respect the health measures put in place. According to Arnaud Fontanet, the English variant is more deadly: “The number of people infected is greater, and this is what plays the most part in the increase in the number of deaths to be expected. On the other hand, (…) this English variant is undoubtedly more lethal: the increase in the risk of death per infected person would be 30%, but this has to be confirmed.
According to Public Health France, there have been 20,586 new infections in the past 24 hours in the country. Since the start of the epidemic, 78,794 people have died from Covid-19.
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