Covid-19: what are the figures a few days before the lifting of restrictions?

Since January, the French were subject to the vaccination pass to go to the restaurant, the cinema, the museum or to visit a relative in the hospital. This one is going to be totally suspended Monday, March 14, 2022. On the other hand, the health pass will remain in certain places hosting people who are more vulnerable to virus such as health establishments, retirement homes or establishments welcoming people with disabilities. While the vaccination pass required that the person be vaccinated to be valid, the health pass is more flexible. It is possible to obtain a health pass with a RT-PCR test or negative antigen for less than 24 hours.

The rules governing the wearing of a mask have also been relaxed since the beginning of February. Since February 2, wearing a mask is no longer compulsory outdoors and since February 28, it is no longer necessary in places subject to the vaccination pass but remains necessary in other places: shops, transport, etc.

From March 14, wearing a mask will be reserved for passenger transport and health establishments. If all these lifting of restrictions are welcomed with relief by the majority of French people, what are the figures for the health situation in France?

A noticeable drop in the circulation of the virus

According to Public health France as of March 7, 2022, the variant currently in circulation in France is the Omicron variant. It represents 99.2% of the samples sequenced. The effective RO is 0.6. This figure indicates the average number of subjects that an infected person can infect. If it is less than 1, theepidemic regress. If it is greater than 1, the epidemic is spreading. By comparison, this indicator had risen to more than 2.5 in some regions at the height of the crisis.

The number of new confirmed cases per day (moving average over 7 days) is just over 50,000 cases. As a reminder, at the height of the epidemic peak of the last wavethis indicator was 362,000 cases per day at the end of January 2022. The spread has decreased significantly since mid-February but this decline is stabilizing and the curve is flattening.

An improvement in the hospital situation

The tension on the resuscitation services is 41% on March 7, 2022. That is to say that 41% of resuscitation, intensive care or continuous monitoring unit beds are occupied by patients with Covid. -19. As a reminder, it was 125% in April 2021. This indicator is clearly improving even if this occupancy rate remains high.

These figures may still seem high for a lifting of restrictions. But the variant Omicron, less severe, has changed the interpretation of the numbers. France has a good vaccination coverage, an excellent weapon against the virus. In addition, the arrival of spring should further help slow the spread of the epidemic. There is no doubt that these figures will nevertheless be closely monitored after March 14.