COVID-19: Is it too early to remove the restrictions?Subscribers
► « Il faut conditionner les allégements à des indicateurs sanitaires»»
Djillali Annane, head of the resuscitation service at Raymond-Poincaré de Garches hospital
"The circulation of the virus is not attenuated enough for the expected lifting of the restrictions to be feasible without risks.The measures taken are intended to limit the circulation of the virus to prevent people from falling sick and hospitals are overloaded.The logic would like these restrictions to be lifted when the probability of falling ill has decreased sharply or even disappeared.We are not there.Today, France is one of the three of the countries of the world which have the most daily contamination.
→ The context.COVID-19: Jean CASTEX announces the end of health restrictions in February
These contamination due to the powerful wave of the omicron variant have consequences: the serious forms are not so rare and the daily admissions in intensive care.In my service, 90 % of patients have coronavirus.
It is therefore curious to define a restriction lifting calendar.For this, you have to be very confident in the predictions.Rather than setting dates, it would be more sensible to condition alleviations to health indicators, such as the number of hospitalized people.Currently, it is difficult to know at what level will these indicators be on February 2 or 15.Especially since we still know little about the impact that the Ba subvariant could have.2 On the rest of the pandemic.
As soon as the lifting of restrictions is not based on health indicators, it becomes complicated to explain to all the usefulness of keeping barriers.How do you want to make people believe that you have to continue to apply instructions on February 1, but that the next day there is nothing?
When the government explains that we will be able to relax, people who have the sole source of information the health authorities believe in it.They have no reason not to believe it, since the situation seems encouraging.But we careful, on the ground, let's see sick people and under what conditions they fell ill.So there is a kind of lag.
→ Explanation.COVID-19: Europe hesitates between lifting and maintenance of health restrictions
With hindsight, I would say that at the beginning of the pandemic, in March and April 2020, the weight of health indicators and the medical point of view was too predominant in political decisions.Today is the opposite, decisions are only political.We have a calendar which is not modeled on the health indicators, but which is articulated with the electoral calendar.
If we remove the context of electoral campaign to look at only the health indicators, we would directly notice that the situation is not good: we are half a million contamination per day, more than 30,000 people arehospitalized and, in intensive care, we see people die every day.Without this electoral deadline, no one would come to say today that the health situation is good and that we can lighten the restrictions.»»
► « Qu’on le veuille ou non, il va falloir apprendre à vivre avec le virus»»
Philippe Amouyel, Public Health Professor at the Lille University Hospital and director of the Alzheimer Foundation
"It all depends on the nature of the restrictions and concomitant figures of hospitalizations.The end of the mask outside, the relief of telework and the end of gauges in public places from February 2, are acceptable risks currently.I am in favor of starting the exit from the crisis, with a measured lifting of the restrictions, especially those which are not used for much.Concretely, no longer put the mask outside, it will not change anything because this measure has never been very useful.Lightening teleworking will not bring all employees back to the office either since he has already returned to the mores of many companies.As for the end of the gauges in places receiving the public, this poses little problem when it comes to outside events.
→ Analysis.In Denmark, Omicron flambé does not prevent the lifting of restrictions
For those who take place inside, the abolition of gauges will be accompanied by the vaccination pass which is more restrictive than the sanitary pass, with which it was enough to have a negative test to enter.Admittedly, people could contaminate themselves between vaccinated, but they will be protected against serious forms at more than 90 %, which is not the case with non-vaccinity.The only places that will be problematic are the political meeting rooms where the vaccination pass will not be compulsory for constitutional reasons.Under these conditions and despite the significant circulation of omicron, the hospital and the resuscitation services should no longer be saturated.However, these are the levels of these two epidemic indicators that must be monitored because they are the cause of health crises.
On the other hand, I will be more prudent concerning the lifting of other measures on February 16.The government plans to authorize the reopening of nightclubs, the resumption of standing concerts and the consumption of drinks or food in stadiums, cinemas, transport and at the Bars counter.For nightclubs, in particular, I think it would still be useful to wear an FFP2 mask there.Studies carried out in Spain have shown that it was effective, including in these kinds of situations where there are a lot of promiscuity.This proposal can make you smile, but it is important to ask yourself the question.Regarding the consumption of drinks or food in closed spaces, it is always problematic when they are not ventilated enough.
→ to read.COVID-19: Why have some people never caught it?
But, whether we like it or not, we will have to learn to live with the virus.It is clear that current restrictions do not enough the circulation of omicron and its variants, all very contagious.The vaccine protects from serious forms, limits contamination, but does not completely prevent it, which means that we are going to contaminate and contact each other until we have a sufficient layer of immunity, vaccine or natural, so that the covid ultimately evolves towards an endemic form, even a simple cold.»»
