the eighth wave of Covid-19 is looming with the start of the school year

Barely the summer ended that the Covid-19 reappears the tip of its nose. In this pharmacy in Marquette-lez-Lille (Nord), for a few days, the tests have been going on. “I haven’t felt well for two days”, admits a patient who came to be tested. That day, half of the tests done in this northern pharmacy will be positive, a sign of the resumption of the epidemic.

The start of the school year would partly explain this eighth wave. “There is the back-to-school effect, with a mix that is being redone compared to this summer”, explains Valentin Galland, nurse. And to continue by evoking a second factor: “The change in temperature. People are more locked up so there’s more transmission.” Proof of the impact of the start of the school year on this eighth wave, it is the 10-19 year olds who are the most affected by the virus. The National Public Health Agency calls for accelerated vaccination with a priority: the second booster, or the fourth dose, for the most fragile.