The epidemic uptick in France will be reversed in 10-15 days and will be “contained”

Paris, 16 Mar The French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, hopes that the surge in coronavirus infections that is now being experienced will be reversed in 10-15 days and have a “contained” effect on hospital pressure, thus not changing the relaxation of health measures. In an interview with the radio station France Info, Véran explained that the forecasts point to a peak of 120,000 to 150,000 daily infections by the end of March, although “the burden on hospitals will be contained.” The number of patients in hospitals, which had been falling steadily for more than a month, is stagnating in recent days. This Tuesday there were 20,919, far in any case from the more than 33,000 that were at the peak of omicron at the beginning of February. As for patients in intensive care units, their number is still declining and this Tuesday stood at 1,783, compared to almost 4,000 in mid-January. The minister considered it justified the end of the obligation to wear a mask indoors since last Monday, despite the epidemic upturn, because this increase in cases was taken for granted and does not have the seriousness of previous waves, as is evident in the occupation of the UCIS. Above all, he noted that there is no “dangerous variant” that is circulating, but that it is omicron, the same one that caused the strong regrowth experienced between December and the beginning of February. In addition, he stressed that the mask continues to be imperative in public transport, in health centers and in nursing homes. In fact, she recommended to older people and everyone who feels fragile to wear it indoors. Véran recalled that France has launched the campaign to vaccinate with a second dose of booster (a fourth dose) those over 80 years old and people living in nursing homes, without ruling out that later this could be extended to those over 65 years old. In a note published this Monday, the Scientific Council advising the Government warns of the risk of “trivialization of the epidemic” that “is not over”, as illustrated by the fact that there are more than 50,000 cases per day and an incidence rate of around 630 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in a week. Infections have risen by 25% in the last week and the Scientific Council assumes that “the number of hospitalizations will increase temporarily in the coming weeks”. In the last four months, 18,000 people have died of coronavirus in France. Since the pandemic records began in February 2020, 140,440 deaths have been recorded, including the 146 reported on Tuesday. CHIEF ac/rcf/mj