“The man has learned a number of lessons”, hopes an infectious disease specialist

While the WHO decided this Friday to lift the maximum level of the alert on Covid-19, infectious disease specialist Denis Malvy is concerned about the “temptation” to misinterpret this news. “We have come out of the pandemic phase” but “SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate”he explains. “I bet that three and a half years of pandemic experience will have enabled man to learn a certain number of lessons. When you are sick, you wear a mask. When you are fragile, you get vaccinated.”

franceinfo: Is this WHO announcement a surprise?

Dennis Malvy: It’s good news. Perhaps not a surprise. We have moved out of what is called the pandemic phase and into what should become a seasonal rhythm. The famous variants that characterized epidemic resumptions will cease to appear significantly. Future viruses will re-express themselves at the onset of winter. This does not mean that SARS-CoV-2 stops circulating. It continues but not enough to cause epidemic resumptions. Fragile people are always called upon to protect themselves and, those around them, to protect them.

This does not mean that SARS-CoV-2 stops circulating

Denis Malvy

at franceinfo

Can this lifting of the maximum alert on Covid-19 be misinterpreted?

It is a temptation that does not date from today. This pandemic will have been a test for the social life of our communities, but I bet that three and a half years of pandemic experience will have taught man and his societies to appropriate the pandemic risk and to retain a certain number of lessons which are those which should accompany us so as not to forget everything. When you are sick, with respiratory symptoms, when you cough, you wear a mask to protect those around you. When we are fragile, we get vaccinated. Especially since it is expected that the vaccination adapted to the latest variant of Covid-19 may coincide with that of the seasonal flu, both of which have become seasonal.

Is it thanks to vaccination that we arrive at this decision of the WHO?

This is thanks to the range of measures in response to the pandemic crisis, which included barrier measures, in particular the wearing of a mask when you cannot keep your distance from people. This wearing of the mask is still a means that is now accessible to us. We don’t miss it. The other means were access to screening and virological diagnosis which can be mobilized. The third is vaccination, which is a very powerful tool among others, which has changed a lot of things but which should not be isolated.