Lhe first mistake in the face of the virus is to systematically oppose freedom and health, as has been the case for ease in our country for over a year. The second is to believe that one can regain economic growth and a social life by allowing the disease to develop. In the world, there is no cohabitation between a prosperous economy and a Covid-19 virus which circulates at high frequency. All the countries experiencing a rapid economic recovery (Israel, United Kingdom, certain American states or certain cities like New York, countries in the Middle East and Asia) have fought the virus thanks to an ultra-offensive vaccine strategy and rapid, coupled with pragmatic barrier measures on a daily basis.
It is also the “zero Covid” strategy that has made it possible to preserve the Asian economies. However, the recent French national approach considers, conversely, that we must “live with the virus”. It would therefore be a question of adapting our social and economic life to a contamination which would remain high. Unfortunately, this choice rests on intellectual bases which are false. An ultra-contagious virus, with a high case fatality rate, which leaves more than 10% of patients with pulmonary, muscular or neurological sequelae, which sends 1% of infected patients to the hospital, which generates numerous harmful indirect effects (for example (example delays in taking charge of chronic diseases such as cancer) is a scourge that we must get rid of. Such a virus depresses the economy.
Wastewater monitoring
The French strategy of recent months therefore seems to us to have sinned by “indulgence” or nonchalance towards the virus. However, it is necessary and possible to develop a strong French policy of strict control of Covid-19, which respects our way of life and corresponds to our mentalities. Local initiatives bear witness to this. Because, even when the state fails, our country is not completely helpless, because decentralized measures are possible, especially at the city level. A municipal strategy which tends towards “zero Covid”, the only one likely to allow the reopening of shops, theaters, restaurants, sports halls… exists.
This strategy is based on four components. First, all means must obviously be mobilized to speed up the pace of vaccination. To reach the target audiences, and thanks to a good knowledge of the population, agents contact by telephone the unvaccinated elderly people or those suffering from morbidities to encourage them to make an appointment. Vaccinodrome staff are trained to use seven doses per vial of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, not just five or six. Appointments are made rigorously and waiting lists are streamlined. Second, super contaminators must be tracked for isolation as quickly as possible. Tracking the epidemic upstream of the formation of contamination chains is possible by identifying the virus as soon as it appears in wastewater and not simply by observing a posteriori, for epidemiological indications, the rate of contamination.
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