Isolation of 17 days, even for the vaccinated: why specialists fear a “paralysis” of the country

Faced with Omicron, the conditions are tougher. Excessive ? In any case, this is what some specialists seem to think. To counter the rapid spread of this new variant of Covid-19 detected in South Africa, the health authorities have decided to increase the duration of isolation for contact cases. Since December 13, it has increased to 17 days for those in the same household as a person positive for the Omicron variant and seven for contact cases who live alone. And this, even if the person concerned is vaccinated. A provision that is not unanimous.

Long gone unnoticed, this new measure was highlighted by several media, LCI.fr in the lead. As can be read on the Health Insurance website, this instruction is justified “taking into account the particularity” of the new variant. But not enough to satisfy some specialists, who wanted to react. Starting with the members of the Scientific Council. During a press conference held on Thursday, the president of this body responsible for clarifying the government’s decisions in the fight against the epidemic said he feared a “possible disorganization of the company” in january due to the spread “dazzling” variant, which could cause “hundreds of thousands of cases per day” by early 2022.

A position similar to the one taken the day before by the teacher Antoine Flahault. The epidemiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Geneva warned of a directive that could quickly put “the country’s essential services at a standstill”. With a new variant that contaminates “on average ten people”, millions of people will be affected in the space of a few days.

In fact, with more than 56,000 daily cases recorded daily, this is 560,000 potential “contact cases” per day! And as many sick leaves generated. This therefore amounts to forcing into forced isolation nearly four million French people every week. Result: the country is likely to be almost “in quarantine”, as the epidemiologist sums it up, even referring to a provision that “risk of bringing the country to its knees”.

An observation to which Jérôme Marty adheres. President of the French Union for Free Medicine (UMFL), he stressed to LCI.fr the “double difficulty” facing the executive. On the one hand, a variant “extremely contagious”, which will directly or indirectly affect millions of French people, and against whom it seems impossible “on an organizational level” to isolate everyone. And on the other “a measure that must be considered so as not to promote the circulation of the virus”.

The general practitioner therefore calls for a more nuanced provision, especially vis-à-vis the health sector, where caregivers are mostly immunized with a booster dose. And where the barrier gestures are more than known. “We are sorely lacking in personnel and caregivers. If we put an end to contact cases, I do not know who will treat people”, he warns. A signal similar to that sent by one of his colleagues, a doctor at the University Hospital of Nice. This Thursday, Olivier Guérin, another member of the Scientific Council, underlined the risks of this instruction for “the strategic areas of operation of our company “, also citing “food distribution, security, energy, transport and communications “.

If this measure is therefore likely to have an effect on the morale of the French, and in particular for the some 500,000 people who will be isolated for the end of year celebrations, it could also impact the proper functioning of the country. To see the “paralyze”, if we are to believe the specialists who have spoken on the issue.

An eventuality that the executive anticipates. According to our information, the government already has a “State action continuity plan”. Thus, if new elements were to confirm that this new variant is more contagious, but less dangerous, the times of isolation could be reduced. While waiting to know if the Omicron wave will surge in hospitals, the authorities prefer however to bet on caution.