While many French people fear the announcement of new binding measures tomorrow, Monday December 6, Why Doctor takes stock of the evolution of the Covid-19 epidemic.
- 89.48% of the adult population is fully vaccinated in France.
- Currently, there are 86 daily deaths in hospital due to Covid-19. This figure has increased by 36% in seven days.
This Monday, December 6, a new health defense council must decide: should new measures be taken in the face of the fifth wave of Covid-19? For the past few weeks, the resumption of the epidemic has been worrying in France.
The main indicators are up
According to latest government data, the incidence rate is 388.27 people tested positive for Covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants throughout the national territory. A very high figure which has risen sharply lately: over 54.30% in the last seven days alone. For comparison, during the peak of the 3rd wave, between March and June 2021, the highest point of this indicator was 363.2.
In all, over the last week, there have been an average of 36,565 new confirmed cases per day in France. During the third wave, the highest number was 53,843 new cases for the day of April 6. While during the fourth wave, between July and October 2021, the maximum number of new contaminations was 36,086 for the day of August 9.
Another very worrying data is the average number of new daily hospitalizations, up by more than 40% in the last seven days, and which stands at 892 new patients. Among them, 196 are admitted to critical care. The main indicators are therefore up sharply.
Omicron, a worrying variant
This week, the first cases of the Omicron variant on French territory were confirmed. This is also one of the government’s concerns. This one was first reported in South Africa on November 24, where it very quickly overtook the one named “Delta”. Since then, it has made strong progress in this country, which is facing a new wave of the epidemic. Hospitalizations are also on the rise.
L’World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the Omicron variant as a concern: “lEarly evidence suggests that it has an increased risk of reinfection compared to other variants of concern. (…) A SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern is a variant (…) that has been shown, by means of comparative evaluation, to be associated with one or more of the following changes, which have a certain importance for global public health: increase in transmissibility or detrimental evolution of the epidemiology of Covid-19, or an increase in virulence or modification of the clinical picture, or even a reduction in the effectiveness of health measures public and social or available diagnostic tools, vaccines and treatments”.
Does the Omicron variant call into question the efficacy of vaccines? This is the question posed to Bruno Lina, virologist, in the Sunday newspaper for December 5. He replied in these terms:Preliminary data from Israeli colleagues suggests not, but I remain very cautious. For the moment, we do not know”. For him, it is possible to minimize the impact of the current wave: “ua sum of simple actions, such as an effort to wear a mask, on ventilation, the practice of teleworking before the holidays, can help us. Models from the Institut Pasteur show that our efforts do not need to be disproportionate. Because, unlike last year, we are massively vaccinated”.
What about vaccination?
Currently, more than 50 million people are fully vaccinated in France and more than 9 million have already received their booster dose. During a press conference which was held on November 25, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced the opening from Saturday November 27 of the booster vaccination for all adults from five months after their last injection.
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