“We must remain cautious,” insists Geneviève Chêne, director general of Public Health France. According to her, the evolution of the Covid-19 epidemic may still hold surprises, as has been the case “at each phase of the epidemic”.
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“It is too early to say that the epidemic peak has passed”, estimates Monday, January 17 on franceinfo the director general of Public Health France, Geneviève Chêne. A speech which comes after that of the epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet who assures him, still on franceinfo Monday, that “the peak is passing before our eyes”. “The increase in the number of Covid-19 cases at the national level persists, explains Geneviève Chêne. You have to be careful.”
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Although the Omicron variant is less severe, “we can expect a trend of increasing hospitalizations” due to the great contagiousness of this variant of the coronavirus, now the majority “at 95%”, according to the Director General of Public Health France. “There may be a difference between the territories, as in Île-de-France, where we have rather observed a stabilization in recent days. However, in all the other territories, we see rather a progression.
Geneviève Chêne wishes “wait several days” for “consolidate latest data” before being more optimistic: “Every Thursday, we present our epidemiological update with a consolidation that covers the previous week. This allows us to observe all the trends over several days.”
“We still have to be very careful, repeats the director of Public Health France. This virus has taught us that it has surprises in store for us at each phase of the epidemic.” According to her, the current situation of a progression “less strong” of the epidemic, is potentially due to the fact that “all French people remain mobilized for vaccination, for reminders, for barrier gestures, ventilation and the reduction of contacts“. She calls to stay “very mobilized“.
If more than 53 million people received at least a first vaccine injection in France, and that 32 million of them received a booster dose, “we can greatly improve the vaccination coverage”, believes Geneviève Chêne, especially in children. According to her, only “just over 1% of 5-10 year olds” and “about 4% of 10-11 year olds” are vaccinated: “We have around 40,000 primary vaccinations per day. It is obviously still insufficient but it is very important to see that French people continue to go for vaccination. We must encourage them.”