The British and South African variants of covid-19, supposedly more contagious, are present in Ile-de-France where they now represent around 10% of new cases.
Towards an increase in the number of patients?
While, according to a first survey carried out on January 7 and 8, the British variant represented around 3% of Covid cases diagnosed in Ile-de-France, less than 3 weeks later, this percentage is on the rise. On Tuesday January 26, doctors from the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) indicated that the English variant of Covid-19 represented around 9% of cases. The South African variant represents about 1% of cases.
To obtain these figures, the scientists took into account 1,080 positive PCR tests, carried out between January 11 and 21 in 8 screening sites in Ile-de-France. For Prof. Anne-Geneviève Marcelin, virologist at Pitié-Salpêtrière, these results point in the direction of a “Increasing trend” of the British variant.
A worrying situation
If it is still difficult to determine the real impact of these variants, a priori more contagious, the health situation is deteriorating in Ile-de-France. The incidence rate was this Monday, January 25 of 210 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, against 191 Monday, January 18, according to the Regional Health Agency. “The situation is worrying” said on Tuesday Professor Bruno Riou, AP-HP crisis medical director, who said he was in favor of “New, more drastic measures” than the curfew.
Faced with this threat from the British and South African variants, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, announced on Friday January 29 the ban on entering and leaving the territory and the closure of non-food shopping centers of more than 20,000 m2.
