COVID. Daily contaminations are gradually decreasing, a sign that the “peak is behind us” according to Olivier Véran. The Minister also specifies that the peak of hospitalizations is being reached, as proof of this the slight decrease in the number of hospital admissions.
09:46 – Teleworking: “We are giving back to companies”, indicates Elisabeth Borne
The Minister of Labour, Employment and Integration, Elisabeth Borne, indicated this Thursday, February 3 that it was now up to companies to decide on the terms of teleworking. According to The Parisian, who relayed the Minister’s remarks, no less than 5,000 checks were carried out during the period during which teleworking was compulsory; several formal notices were served.
09:33 – “The virus and variants can play tricks on us”
Benjamin Davido notes that “we have an extremely contaminating variant” and a large part of the vaccinated population, these are good conditions for achieving collective immunity and limiting the emergence of a new wave. However, this does not exclude the risk of a return of the virus in another form, more or less serious. “It must be understood that the virus and variants can play tricks on us and that we are not immune”, adds the infectious disease specialist who finds the gradual lifting of restrictions just right but calls for caution.
09:16 – The virus could return in the fall according to Benjamin Davido
Oliver Véran’s speech is very optimistic but this morning on Franceinfo, Benjamin Davido, infectious disease specialist and medical director and Covid-19 referent at the Raymond Poincaré hospital in Garches is procrastinating. “Very clearly, the most likely scenario would be for the virus to return next fall,” he believes, betting on the ability of the virus to “seasonalize”. The management of Covid-19 could therefore be closer to that of the flu according to the doctor with an annual reminder for the most fragile people.
08:59 – Mutations weaken the virus
If the Covid-19 “mutates to outsmart our immune system”, the repeated modifications make it “lose in strength” according to Oliver Véran. Also, the arrival of new variants is a possibility but the Minister of Health does not see this hypothesis as a risk: “If we are dealing with new variants that are even less dangerous, the question will arise of returning to a system such as ‘we know him with the flu.”
08:43 – BA.2 immune escape risk raises questions
The BA.2 sub-variant, a mutation derived from Omicron, remains a factor with some unknowns that may have an impact on epidemic evolution. Scientific studies are continuing to better understand it, for the time being Oliver Véran specifies that “it is even more contagious but is not more dangerous”. The questions and the main fear concern the risk of immune escape. It would seem that patients infected with Covid-19 with the Omicron variant could be recontaminated by BA.2.
08:19 – “You have to be extremely careful” despite the decline
“The epidemic will start to decrease with a relatively high rate of decrease”, confirms Professor Bruno Mégarbane. However, on LCI last night he explained that “when you are at risk of having serious forms, because you are old, weakened by comorbidities or immunocompromised, if you are contaminated you have the same risk of having a serious form of disease”. The improvement in the health situation is therefore not a reason to abandon all restrictions and barrier measures, particularly for people at risk. “The virus will continue to circulate at a significant level. This is why you have to be extremely careful”, temporized the specialist.
08:08 – Contaminations down, “the peak is behind us” according to Olivier Véran
The end of the epidemic is becoming clearer or at least there are good reasons to hope. “The peak is behind us” said Oliver Véran last night on BFMTV and indeed the number of daily contaminations continues to decline. The situation could soon clear up in hospitals because according to the Minister of Health “we are reaching the peak of hospitalizations” while the peak of resuscitation has already been crossed for several days. These figures justify the gradual lifting of restrictions.
02/02/22 – 11:58 p.m. – “The lifting of restrictions seems a little premature”, assures an epidemiologist
[Fin du direct] After the lifting of health restrictions in France, “France has chosen a slightly staged and not too hasty protocol”, indicated Wednesday February 2 on franceinfo, Antoine Flahault, epidemiologist, director of the Institute of Global Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva. “The lifting of restrictions seems a bit premature,” he said before adding that we had to “at least take the trouble to wait for the epidemic to decline in France.”
02/02/22 – 11:37 p.m. – Olivier Véran specifies the terms of the vaccination pass in the event of infection with Covid-19
On BFMTV, Olivier Véran clarified the possibilities for obtaining a valid vaccination pass. “To benefit from the vaccine pass, the immune system must have been stimulated at least three times”, a stimulation corresponding to “an infection” or “an injection”, indicated the Minister of Health, this Wednesday. Thus, it will take at least one dose of vaccine to obtain a valid vaccination pass in the event of infection with the coronavirus.
02/02/22 – 11:24 p.m. – The vaccination pass becomes compulsory in French Polynesia
The vaccination pass will come into effect in French Polynesia from February 8, 2022, local authorities announced on Wednesday. “In the context of the steady increase in Covid-19 cases in French Polynesia for several weeks, the use of the vaccine pass will apply from February 8, 2022 to anyone over the age of 16”, indicated the High Commissioner of the Republic, Dominique Sorain. The rule will be the same as that applied in metropolitan France. It will be necessary to justify a complete vaccination schedule to access certain places subject to the vaccination pass.
02/02/22 – 11:14 p.m. – The vaccination pass applied in Guadeloupe from March 7
Faced with the Covid-19 epidemic in Guadeloupe, the prefect Alexandre Rochatte indicated, this Wednesday, that the vaccination pass will come into force in two stages: March 7, 2022 for cultural establishments open to the public (cinemas, museums, theaters …) and March 21 for bars, hotels and restaurants.
02/02/22 – 23:01 – More than 242,000 children have received at least one dose against the coronavirus
According to Adrien Taquet, secretary general in charge of children and families, more than 242,000 children have been vaccinated against Covid-19 with at least one dose. Vaccination for all children between 5 and 11 years old was authorized in France on December 22, 2021. But after more than a month, only 3% of eligible children have received at least one injection of Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine against Covid-19. 19.
02/02/22 – 10:53 p.m. – Between 5 and 6% of positive cases for the BA.2 variant in France, according to Olivier Véran
The Omicron BA.2 sub-variant is progressing in France, according to the Minister of Health. “Between 5 and 6% of positive cases each day in France correspond to the BA.2 sub-lineage”, he indicated on BFMTV, this Wednesday. At a press conference, the WHO confirmed that the BA.2 subvariant was “more transmissible” than Omicron. No difference in severity between the two mutations has so far been demonstrated.
02/02/22 – 10:40 p.m. – State of health emergency declared in New Caledonia because of Covid-19
The state of health emergency has been declared in New Caledonia, where the incidence rate is at a record level, said Gabriel Attal, the government spokesman, on Wednesday. With 1,230 new cases in 24 hours, the contamination rate exceeded 2,000 per 100,000 inhabitants on February 1, 2022.
02/02/22 – 10:23 p.m. – “If we can cancel the vaccination pass before July, we will do so”, says Olivier Véran
The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, was questioned about the vaccine pass, a measure which aims to fight against the spread of Covid-19, on BFMTV, this Wednesday. “It’s already a great success, we saved a lot of lives. The pass is not my philosophy, we did it because we had no choice. If we can remove the vaccine pass before July, we will do it”, he affirmed before adding that “when there is no longer a deprogrammed treatment in our country, the usefulness of the vaccination pass may be questioned.”
Here is the latest assessment of the coronavirus in France according to data updated daily by Public Health France and available on Data.gouv. Figures as of February 2, 2022:
The figures from Public Health France are to be qualified. A distinction must be made between patients hospitalized for Covid-19 and with Covid-19 (the figures currently given). The same goes for deaths: if, for example, Public Health France (SPF) reports 5,000 deaths of people positive for the coronavirus in France between December 1, 2021 and January 9, 2022, including 383 attributed to the Omicron variant, these figures are at observe with caution, indicates Release. Indeed, over the period from January 10 to 16 alone, 26% of patients positive for Covid-19 had been admitted for a pathology other than Sars-CoV-2. 13% of Covid-19 positive people admitted to critical care and 8% of positive people admitted to intensive care are in the same situation.
According to last epidemiological point of Public Health France (SPF), published Thursday, January 27, “the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 continues to progress at a very high level. The hospital tension, already high, is on the rise, but the pressure on the care services criticism decreases.” in week 03 (17-23 January). The incidence rate was over 3,000 positive cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Follow the evolution of the coronavirus in your municipality thanks to the map below. Click on a department to display the list of municipalities. Also find all the details on this mapping and the complete point by city and by department in our article on the Covid map in France.
Since mid-October 2020, Public Health France has been communicating incidence data (number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants) at municipal level. The figures are at this stage communicated according to a scale (10, 20, 50, 150, 250, 500, 1000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). The data is expressed over a sliding week, which means that it is calculated on a D-day from tests carried out between 3 and 9 days previously. To access information relating to the coronavirus in your municipality, enter its name in the search engine or click on its department in the map below.
As a reminder, the incidence rate corresponds to the number of new cases of Covid-19 over a period of one week, compared to the total population of a territory (country, region, department or municipality). This indicator is generally expressed as the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The screening rate gives the number of people having carried out a screening test for the coronavirus out of the total number of inhabitants, during the period. It is also most often expressed per 100,000 inhabitants. Finally, the test positivity rate gives the percentage of positive tests for the coronavirus, compared to the total number of tests carried out over the period.