36%. This is the rate of "screened positive cases which correspond to the British variant" in France, according to the Minister of Health Olivier Véran. He also said at a press conference on the Covid-19 epidemic on February 18 that 5% of positive cases in the territory carried the South African and Brazilian variants.
This increase in contamination by variants led the Minister of Health to announce a new measure during the health situation update. Olivier Véran has decided to extend the duration of isolation from seven to ten days, as of February 22, for patients who test positive for the coronavirus. He specified that the quarantine period would remain fixed at seven days for contact cases.
This measure had already been introduced in early February for people infected with the South African and Brazilian variants. The Ministry of Health also justified the lengthening of the period of isolation, referring to scientific work which revealed that the variants would make the disease last longer. "Some scientific studies suggest the possibility that the variants would be responsible for a longer duration of contagiousness than the classic Covid-19", he stressed.
Covid-19: the infection would be longer because of the British variant
Researchers at Harvard University made this hypothesis in their research published on February 10. The study was carried out on 65 individuals who tested positive for Covid-19. Seven of them were carriers of the British variant, called B.1.1.7.
Scientists have revealed that the average duration of infection is longer when one is infected with the British variant. According to the results, the latter was 13.3 days in patients carrying the British strain, while the duration of infection was 8 days in those who tested positive for the classic strain of the coronavirus.
"These data show that the English variant (B.1.1.7) of the coronavirus can cause longer infections with peaks in viral concentration similar to those of the original strain. This prolonged duration may contribute to the increased transmissibility of the coronavirus. ", the study authors concluded.
Variant: is the viral load greater?
During their research, scientists at Harvard University also looked at viral load, which is the amount of virus in the body in people affected by the British variant. They found that the viral load was the same for patients positive for the English strain and those carrying the original strain of the virus.
Another study, carried out by the British public health system and the University of Birmingham, found that the viral load was higher in patients infected with the British variant. The results of this work were published on February 13 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. "Patients whose samples have the B.1.1.7 variant are more likely to have high viral loads, which may explain higher infectivity and faster spread", can we read in the study.
Read also :
⋙ Covid-19: what are the symptoms of the South African variant?
⋙ Covid-19: what is this worrying new variant already identified in 13 countries?
⋙ Covid-19: what we know about the first French case of serious reinfection by the South African variant