SPREAD – During a press point, the Scientific Council warned against a “disorganization” of many sectors in January due to the multiplication of contaminations, spiked by the Omicron variant.
AL with AFP –
The extreme contagiousness of the Omicron variant has not finished disturbing the countries in which it is spread. While the United Kingdom is affected by a labor shortage in the middle of the Christmas period following an explosion in cases of contamination, the Scientific Council in a press briefing on Thursday predicts that the same phenomenon will affect France in January.
All the info on
Omicron variant: the planet on alert
According to Professor Arnaud Fontanet, a member of this body which advises the government, the “dazzling” transmission of Omicron could translate in January by “several hundred thousand” cases per day.
With the increase in work stoppages and periods of isolation in the event of contact, the Scientific Council has therefore expressed its fears of a “disorganization” many sectors next month, especially in supermarkets, hospitals, schools or even transport. Already, the SNCF has announced for the Christmas period the cancellation of certain regional trains for lack of employees.
A month of January “in degraded mode”
Faced with this “really new data that we did not have on the other waves, and which is linked to the propagation speed of Omicron”, the Scientific Council recommends lightening the isolation rules in order to limit this disorganization. Currently, a contact case of a case contaminated with the Omicron variant must isolate 17 days. This reduction could be decided according to scientists since despite its strong contagiousness, the new variant seems to cause fewer severe forms of Covid.
But, according to Arnaud Fontanet, these adjustments could also depend on the level of contagiousness of the person at a particular moment, determined by tests, as well as on the “nature of functions” that it occupies. These possibilities “relaxations” will also have to be accompanied “a strengthening of barrier gestures”, recommended the epidemiologist.
Read also
- Isolation of 17 days, even for the vaccinated: why specialists fear a “paralysis” of the country
- Omicron: a more contagious but less dangerous variant? What the latest studies say
In any case, the Scientific Council foresees that in January, “we are operating in degraded mode”, due to the many contaminations, especially at school.
According to first preliminary studies from South Africa, Scotland and England, the Omicron variant appears to cause fewer hospitalizations than Delta. But seeming much more contagious, it could mathematically cause an increase in the number of hospitalized patients, especially among the unvaccinated and the frail.
On the same subject
The most read articles
LIVE – Faced with the Omicron explosion, the executive wants to take new measures
INFO TF1 / LCI – New Year: the government is considering a curfew
Covid-19: hospitalizations among children explode in New York
10,000 steps per day: is the goal scientifically proven?
“The virus will be transmitted at high speed, especially among children”, warns Professor Didier Pittet
