Covid-19. A “worrying” situation but no new constraints

Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, did not hide this Thursday evening that the health situation was “Tense and disturbing”. Almost paradoxical too, depending on the region, with contamination rates very disparate from one department to another. The differences can range from one to eleven between some of them.

The incidence rates (number of infected people per 100,000 inhabitants) thus remain very high in the Alpes-Maritimes (nearly 472 cases), Pas-de-Calais (407), as well as in Val-de-Marne. and in Seine-Saint-Denis (more than 400). Conversely, the situation is surprisingly calmer in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (44 infected per 100,000 inhabitants), where the closure of the border with Spain could partly explain this drop in contamination. But also in Finistère (nearly 55) and Creuse (61).

4000 patients in intensive care

Beyond this heterogeneous observation, three regions are of particular concern to the authorities: Hauts-de-France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Île-de-France, where intensive care services are close to saturation. . In total in France, this Thursday evening, just over 4,000 people were hospitalized in these services. Is “An occupancy rate of 85% of our current capacities. And the pressure should increase further ”, said Olivier Véran.

And this, for a simple reason: the variants of the coronavirus, in particular the British, “More contagious and more dangerous, now represent two thirds of contaminations in France”.

To reduce this health pressure, the ARS Île-de-France, for example, ordered hospitals and clinics to deprogram 40% of their medical and surgical activities to increase reception capacities. The transfers of patients from the most affected areas to those which are more preserved will be accentuated. There were thirty-six in the first week of March. In the next few days there should be some “Dozens, even hundreds” others, said Olivier Véran.

AstraZeneca is long overdue

However, faced with this deteriorated situation, the government immediately refuses to take new more restrictive measures, especially in Île-de-France, where no weekend confinement has been ordered, unlike the Pas-de -Calais and Nice. During his press conference, the Minister of Health did not rule out such a possibility, but he also recognized that it would then be “Measures with serious consequences for the inhabitants”.

In the immediate future, the government’s priority therefore remains to reduce health pressure in hospitals receiving the most infected patients. In the medium term, it also relies on the beneficial effects of vaccination: 4.5 million people have so far received the first dose and 2.1 million the second. But the bad news of the day has once again come fromAstraZeneca : over the next three weeks, “Few doses” will be delivered to France …

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