2023-08-12 16:30:01
The Covid-19 epidemic is experiencing a slight rebound during this summer. In Corsica, the number of cases has increased significantly over the past three weeks. However, the circulation of the virus remains “weak” according to the ARS.
In France as in other countries, it is the return of the Covid. If the epidemic rebound has so far been moderate, it nevertheless calls for vigilance.
In Corsica, the latest bulletin from the Regional Health Agency reports a “increase in cases over the past three weeks”. And more particularly during the week of July 31 to August 6: the incidence rate increased by 31% compared to the previous week, from 10.3 per 100,000 inhabitants to 13.5.
However, the circulation of the virus remains at a level qualified as “weak”. The activities of SOS Médecins and emergencies are, for their part, “weak and stable”.
At the national level, some indicators still in place confirm an epidemic resumption.
In the emergency room, visits for suspicion of Covid increased by 31% the week from July 31 to August 6 compared to the previous one, concerning 920 patients, according to Public Health France.
On the SOS Médecins side, medical acts for suspected Covid-19 jumped 84% in one week, to more than 1,500 acts in early August, according to SpF.
“Covid circulation is certainly low in France, but we must remain vigilant, because the situation is changing rapidly”judged the Minister of Health, in a statement sent to AFP. “We will have, for several more seasons, to live with the resurgence of this virus”, added Aurélien Rousseau.
A rebound is also reported in the United States, the United Kingdom, but also in India or Japan.
The number of new cases recorded worldwide jumped 80% over one month, with 1.5 million additional contaminations from July 10 to August 6, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
If, since the beginning of May, the WHO no longer considers the pandemic a global health emergency, “the virus continues to circulate in all countries, continues to kill and continues to change”said its director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday.
Its EG.5 version, nicknamed Eris by some scientists, is currently the most scrutinized because it might carry the rebound. Summer gatherings and lower immunity can also play a role.
This sub-variant of the Omicron family, member of the XBB lineage, seems more transmissible than others in circulation – probably under the effect of new genetic mutations -, and perhaps more capable of escaping immune defences.
More than 17% of Covid cases identified worldwide in mid-July fell under EG.5 (+7.6% over one month), according to the WHO.
In France, the General Directorate of Health assured that “the health authorities have not let their guard down” more “adapted” monitoring because “Covid is now one of the viral acute respiratory infections, alongside influenza and RSV”causing bronchiolitis.
Over time and waves, the impact of Covid on hospitalizations and deaths has greatly diminished, thanks to the high level of immunity acquired by vaccination and/or infections. But it is not zero, and the long Covids are added to it.
Vaccination remains crucial, and the WHO urged on Wednesday to “intensify efforts to increase vaccination coverage”.
To better match the mutations of the virus, the pharmaceutical groups Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax are preparing vaccines targeting the XBB line.
In several countries, including France, vaccination campaigns, focused on the most vulnerable, are planned for this fall, coupled with those once morest the flu.
With AFP.
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