January 11, 2020. A date that will be remembered: the Chinese authorities announce the death of a person, contaminated by a “unknown virus” in Wuhan. A virus called “mysterious but less serious than SARS”, then affirm the health and political authorities.
We are talking about a mysterious virus. Forty-five people are infected in Wuhan, China. A week later, on January 18, 2020, Jean-Claude Manuguerra, virologist and head of the emergency unit at the Institut Pasteur, was interviewed on franceinfo: “What we know is that it is a coronavirus close to SARS, which was talked about a lot in 2003 and which had scared the world at the time, he said. However, it would seem that this virus is less virulent, less pathogenic than its predecessor, SARS, which we had gotten rid of. “
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On January 20, 2020, the Chinese authorities announced a third death and 200 cases of contamination. A few cases are also reported in Thailand and Japan. Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of the infectious diseases department at Bichat hospital and expert with the World Health Organization, was interviewed that day on franceinfo. For him, the reference is still the SARS epidemic of 2003, a very deadly virus, nearly 50% dead, but which has remained very localized. “Of the 200 cases, for the moment there are three deaths and nine severe forms, so compared to SARS, it seems less severe”, he says. Is the epidemic at risk of spreading? “What is quite reassuring for the moment is that there have been no secondary transmissions in these countries, these are imported cases. There is a risk but I think that we are much better prepared than 20 years ago at the time of SARS to try to contain the epidemic, I think we have weapons to fight against. “
On January 21, 2020, Agnès Buzyn is holding a press point. “The risk of introducing this virus into France is low but cannot be excluded”, assures the Minister of Health. Nevertheless, she specifies that “the situation is very evolving” and “Precautionary messages are already posted from or to Wuhan“, the Chinese city considered to be the source of the disease. “no border control measures have been taken, in accordance with WHO recommendations”.
Coronavirus epidemic in China: “The risk of introducing cases linked to this episode into France is low but it cannot be excluded”, says Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn pic.twitter.com/tz4qmpuyC1
– franceinfo (@franceinfo) January 21, 2020
The next day, Peugeot employees expatriated in Wuhan were repatriated. They are the first French nationals to urgently leave the city, epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic. A week later, a first plane chartered by France to embark 200 French people will take off from Roissy-Charles De Gaulle on Thursday, January 30, 2020, to land during the day in Wuhan, a city strictly confined by the Chinese authorities. The repatriated French people will in turn be isolated, but no border control has been established.
On January 23, 2020, the arrival of the first tests that will distinguish the coronavirus from the flu which circulates in parallel with the same symptoms. But we only test people with symptoms who are then isolated. For Yazdan Yazdanpanah, this device should help prevent the epidemic. “We must not give in to panic, he assures. We have a device that works, which makes it possible to detect patients really quickly, to isolate them and to make the diagnosis. There are going to be cases, however, the probability of an epidemic in France or in Europe is extremely low. “
Except that the first cases are reported in France … The next day. On January 24, 2020, three patients are hospitalized in Bordeaux and Paris, a French of Chinese origin and two people who have stayed in Wuhan. The number of cases is increasing every day but we continue to say that there is no epidemic. Ten days later, February 3, 2020, it is certain for the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon: “There is no epidemic in France, not even a chain of transmission in our country and no circulation of the virus on the territory. There is therefore no particular measure to be taken for the general public.”
Four days later, on February 8, 2020, the first cluster is declared at the ski resort of Les Contamines. A week later, on February 15, 2020, the authorities announced that an 80-year-old Chinese patient hospitalized in Paris has died. On January 11, 2021, there are 67,750 deaths from the coronavirus.
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