Rebound in Covid cases: is the lifting of the wearing of masks too early?

in collaboration with

Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)

The number of Covid-19 cases on the rise

The number of daily contaminations has been increasing for about a week. Indeed, the average number of daily cases has gone back above the 100,000 case mark, a phenomenon that had not happened since February 16. According to Public Health France, 145,560 new cases have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, which represents an increase of 49% compared to the previous week.

In addition, the extent of this epidemic rebound in France seems to be underestimated, since screening tests are on average five times less used than at the beginning of January.

Nevertheless, for Doctor Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of Doctissimo, “we have to stop counting the waves” of the epidemic. The incidence rate is not “the only indicator to observe. The worrying indicator is the number of serious cases and currently there are no hospital repercussions, as people are little or not sick”.

Nevertheless, it is legitimate to wonder whether the health restriction measures were not lifted too soon.

Did the French remove the mask too soon?

On Tuesday March 22, the World Health Organization warned several European countries, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy against lifting the obligation to wear a mask a little too early. This lifting of restrictions is deemed too “brutal”.

For Doctor Kierzek, the link between the increase in contamination and the lifting of health measures is “very controversial”. “We are probably on a natural evolution of the virus, which comes and goes”. For him, it’s a “fairly classic viral phenomenon, possibly linked to climate and humidity”. Furthermore, “correlation is not causality and who tells us that if we had not kept the measurements we would not have observed such a phenomenon anyway? “asks Gérald Kierzek.

In these different European countries, the contagions go up because of the sub-variant of Omicron, named BA.2, the latter being very contagious. This situation could therefore set back the lifting of certain health measures. It is, in any case, not excluded for the President of the Republic.

The return of wearing a mask: a measure that Emmanuel Macron does not exclude

Guest of M6 on Wednesday March 23, Emmanuel Macron was asked about this epidemic rebound in France. Asked whether the mask could be compulsory indoors again, the Head of State replied: “I will be very transparent: if things were to deteriorate, and even during the election, the president that I am will do what is necessary to protect in a proportionate way“. Even if, for the time being, he defends the French strategy, a return to the mask remains possible. Emmanuel Macron seems to want to keep the same roadmap: “I had a compass: to protect our compatriots”.

What Doctor Kierzek regrets is that he does not exist “no scientific assessment of the measures taken over the past two years, in particular on the role of the mask”. So it appears “difficult to judge the effectiveness of the various measures, useful or not”.

Does the Omicron variant have its share of responsibility?

The Omicron variant is mainly present in France. “Less dangerous but more contagious”, according to Dr. Kierzek, it would seem that the immunity conferred by vaccines is also less effective. This is in any case what reveals a study published in the journal Cell. The analysis of 259 samples from 128 vaccinated patients indicates that a person could be contaminated several times by Omicron, due to the weak vaccine protection against this strain.