the number of cases increased by 26% in one week

Are the relaxation of barrier gestures or the arrival of a sub-variant of Omicron the cause of the increase in the number of cases of Covid-19? In one week, the number of patients is up by 26%, or more than 22,000 cases per day. This slight rebound could be explained by a drop in immunity. “The effect of the third doses of vaccination which, for the most part, took place in the month of February-March, is diminishing“, explains Philippe Amouyel, professor of Public Health at the University Hospital of Lille (Nord). In addition, an infection with the Omicron variant would confer immunity for only three or four months.

The BA.4 or BA.5 subvariants are more transmissible, but not more dangerous. The number of hospital admissions is down, with 400 cases a day. “For the moment, there are no worrying signals, the number of continuous hospitalizations has dropped“, reassures Professor Frédéric Adnet, head of the emergency department at Avicenne Hospital – Paris (AP-HP).