For the past week, Malardé researchers have been able to identify variants of Covid-19, thanks to kits capable of detecting mutations in the virus.
Scientists decided to go back in time to determine whether people with variants have ever set foot on Polynesian soil. The positive samples from travelers dating from January, then soon from December, are therefore analyzed again.
“In several countries, when they retrospectively looked at their positive samples, they found variants. That’s why it’s something that we are also considering and that we are starting to do on the samples of travelers, explains Doctor Van Mai Cao-Lormeau, director of the research laboratory on infectious diseases at ILM. We cannot exclude that the variant has already been introduced. After knowing if it really circulated, that’s another story. “
It is not so much the lethality of these variants that is of concern as their transmissibility.
“As the virus seems to transmit better, the number of people infected at the same time and the number of people infected is likely to be higher, continues Doctor Van Mai Cao-Lormeau. So it’s really a question of timing actually. That is to say, there is a risk that, in a short period of time, we have more infected people, and therefore potentially more people to have to take care of. It is for this reason that we are a little cautious about the potential introduction of these variants. “
However, the latest figures are encouraging. The epidemic seems to be marking time. And the closure of the borders, however painful it may be for the local economy, will greatly facilitate the work of the Malardé Institute. Travelers will arrive very slowly and will have to undergo a quarantine. Their monitoring will therefore be easier. Which bodes well for the Director General of the Institute.
“If we manage this border closure well, I think that at the end of February, or even at the end of March, we can be covid-free in Polynesia”, Confirmation Herve Teivitau defeat.
But to achieve this, barrier gestures must be maintained and patients isolated. And the vaccination campaign must continue. Because with the return of visitors in two months or more, the situation could change again.
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