UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – New measures, new reports and highlights: Le Figaro provides an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The circulation of the virus remains sustained according to Public Health France, 2174 classes closed throughout the territory, Shanghai still confined… Le Figaro provides an update this Friday, April 8 on the latest information related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read alsoCovid-19: do you still need to get vaccinated?
124 dead in 24 hours, 23,404 hospitalized patients
124 people died of Covid this Friday, according to the daily report of Public Health France. 23,404 patients are currently hospitalized (against 23,272 on Thursday), including 1,903 who arrived in the past 24 hours. 1554 patients are treated in critical care units.
Covid-19: Scholz fails to pass compulsory vaccination in Germany
The circulation of the virus remains sustained, observes Public Health France
The SARS-Cov2 virus is still circulating in a “sustained“Despite the shift in the curve of counted contaminations, observed Public Health France on Friday, not being able to affirm”nowadays» that the peak of the epidemic rebound has passed. The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, said Thursday that “we passed the peak of the reboundof the Covid-19 epidemic. The number of new infections “down about 5% now for five days“, with 140,000 to 150,000 new cases recorded daily on average, he added.
“SEE ALSO – Covid-19: Olivier Véran announces the opening of the second booster dose”to French people aged 60 and over »
When asked whether the peak of the rebound had been reached, the health agency estimated, during its weekly press briefing, that “one cannot answer affirmatively to this question of having reached the peak of the rebound of the epidemic to date“. “To know if we have reached the peak of the rebound of this epidemic recovery, we must have exceeded it and confirm that we are in a phase of decline in the epidemic.“, underlined the agency.
“Changes in incidence and screening rates should be interpreted with caution in the coming weeks, due to the increasingly frequent use of self-tests“, not counted “when they are not confirmed by antigenic test or RT-PCR“, also warned Public Health France in a press release. The circulation of the virus remainssustained», with for example a reproduction rate always greater than 1.
Read alsoCovid-19: the peak of the rebound is crossed
2174 classes closed throughout the territory
2,174 classes are closed due to Covid-19, compared to 2,897 last week, the Ministry of National Education announced on Friday April 8 in a press release. The most affected academies are those of Nancy-Metz, Aix-Marseille and Montpellier, while no class is closed in Île-de-France.
In addition, throughout France, no school structure is closed, unlike last week, when four establishments closed their doors. Finally, the ministry adds that 69,599 students and 9,674 staff have tested positive for coronavirus. Figures down from those of 1er april.
Read alsoCovid-19: do you still need to get vaccinated?
Symptoms last less with Omicron than Delta
Covid symptoms last less in patients infected with the Omicron variant than its predecessor Delta, at least when they are vaccinated, shows a study conducted in the United Kingdom and published Friday in the Lancet. Another lesson from this work, based on data collected on the British public health application ZOE, Omicron causes much less loss of smell than its predecessor.
Read alsoCovid: the increase in tests continues but at a slower pace
To assess the differences in symptoms between Delta, largely dominant for part of 2021, and Omicron, which has supplanted it since the end of the year, the researchers studied the testimonies given by some 63,000 patients, all of whom had already been vaccinated before their infection. . In those who did not have a booster, symptoms lasted an average of 8.3 days with Omicron versus 9.6 with Delta. The difference is even more marked in the event of a prior vaccination reminder: 4.4 days of symptoms with Omicron against 7.7 with Delta.
The study, which is to be presented soon at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, also looked at the details of the symptoms. Only 17% of patients infected with Omicron lost their sense of smell compared to 53% with Delta. Conversely, sore throats were much more common with Omicron.
Read alsoWhere can we travel? Our map of open countries and restrictions for French tourists
China: Xi praises zero Covid strategy, Shanghai still confined
Chinese President Xi Jinping touted the national zero Covid strategy on Friday as a locked-down Shanghai faces the worst virus outbreak since the outbreak began. The economic capital of 25 million inhabitants plans to soon have around 130,000 makeshift beds, particularly in exhibition centers, in order to isolate people who test positive.
»SEE ALSO – China at an impasse in the zero Covid strategy
The zero Covid policy consists of several measures: confinements as soon as a few cases appear, drastic border filtering, long quarantine on arrival in the territory or even tracing of movements. It has allowed the Chinese to live almost normally since 2020 and to limit the number of deaths to less than 5,000 according to the official report. But the number of cases has exploded in recent weeks due to the Omicron variant.
In order to isolate those who tested positive, the Shanghai authorities indicated on Friday that they had already installed some 60,000 makeshift beds, in particular in exhibition centers. About 70,000 more should be available soon, they said. Shanghai, the epicenter of the current outbreak, reported more than 21,000 new positive cases on Friday, levels not seen in China since the outbreak began.