An hour and a half before Prime Minister Jean Castex’s press conference on Thursday, the Regional Health Agency held its traditional videoconference to take stock of the Covid-19 epidemic in the Pays de la Loire region.
The situation is getting worse
Since Tuesday, the epidemiological indices have deteriorated. The incidence rate in Pays de la Loire increased by ten points, from 96.4 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 106.8. The positivity rate goes from 4.2 to 4.6%. “The situation is sensitive, we cannot escape this trend increase in France“regrets the director of the ARS, Jean-Jacques Coiplet. The rate of reproduction of the virus (R0) is higher than the national average.
22,000 vaccine doses approaching
On January 18, 500 pharmacies in the Pays de la Loire region will receive doses of vaccines against Covid-19. The pharmacies will then have four days to distribute them to nursing homes that do not depend on hospitals. In total, the region will receive nearly 21,450 doses. A transport plan is currently under study. Supplies will be readjusted as and when required in the departments.
What du virus “variant”?
Since Thursday evening, the British variant of the virus has been detected in Brittany. But in Pays de la Loire, “no proven case for the moment (…) but we will probably have it one day“ explained Jean-Jacques Coiplet. This variant of Covid-19 has nearly 24 mutations. Some of them, like its predecessor, attack respiratory cells via the Spike protein. “Obviously this did not change the virulence of the virus. It is more contagious but not more dangerous. There are no more severe forms with this variant“declares Professor David Boutoille, infectious disease specialist in the infectious and tropical diseases department at Nantes University Hospital.
Can you be infected with the variant when you have already been infected with the first form of coronavirus? “We have some answers from countries already affected, such as England. People who have been infected with the strains circulating so far have not been infected with this new variant. It’s rather reassuring because it means that it is not different enough“concludes David Boutoille. Is Pfizer vaccine effective against the British variant? “It would remain active against this variant but investigations are still underway.“explains the director of the ARS.
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