“Against Covid-19, we must trust the judgment of our fellow citizens and stop using coercion”

Tribune. It has now been a year since the lives of the French have been turned upside down by the health crisis and the implementation of measures as strong as they are unprecedented, all taken in the name of the health of our fellow citizens. This anniversary should be an opportunity for us to take stock of it.

At the start of the epidemic, in the light of the first data which then raised fears of a very high mortality, and pending effective treatment and sufficient hospital beds to treat the sick, it was then acceptable for each of us to find ourselves temporarily confined and then to see a certain number of barrier gestures imposed “to protect ourselves and others”. However, today, the terms of this social contract have changed a lot.

After a year of follow-up, the disease is better understood. Death statistics show that she is not as deadly as initially feared. The population at risk of severe forms is fairly clearly identified and is mainly made up of very old people and / or people with particular comorbidities. In addition, the medical management of severe forms has improved considerably and has significantly reduced mortality.

The transitory nature of the health measures introduced is also called into question in the face of the emergence of multiple variants, because prior infection with the virus does not seem to protect them. As a result, a way out of the crisis in the short or medium term by collective, passive or vaccine immunity, appears to be compromised.

Transitional need

The health constraints were presented to the population, and accepted by them, as a transitional necessity in order not to overwhelm the hospital reception capacity. However, after one year, the number of hospitalization and intensive care beds has still not been increased, nor the number of paramedical and specialized medical personnel.

The health policy put in place is responsible for worrying collateral damage. So the sedentarization of the population, and in particular that of children (report of the National Observatory of Physical Activity and Sedentary Life, December 2020) faced with confinement, the closure of sports halls, health constraints weighing on sports activities at school, among others, leads to a weight gain of a large part of the population which may have consequences on their long-term health, as well as an ever-increasing consumption of screen time, especially for children and adolescents.

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