The battle is far from over with the spread of new variants of the virus. Tuesday evening, February 9, the human toll of Covid-19 exceeded 80,000 deaths in France.

The pace should not slow down immediately, because the number of hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients remains high, at more than 11,000 new admissions and 1,700 to 1,800 arrivals in intensive care units every seven days on average since the January 24.

Intake in intensive care multiplied by three

“In the last 15 days, we have tripled the number of Covid patients in intensive care. And with the arrival of the variant, we risk being totally overwhelmed”, explains to AFP Professor Yves Cohen, head of the department of resuscitation at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny.

In this establishment, the 32 critical care beds – double the amount before the crisis – are no longer sufficient and it has been decided to open an additional intensive care unit.

The South African variant continues its momentum

In Eaubonne (24,000 inhabitants), in the Val d’Oise, the town hall announced a screening campaign over three days after the detection of cases of the variant originating in South Africa, which caused the closure of a college.

Since Monday, an entire class can now be closed if a child or a member of his family is infected with the South African or Brazilian variant, whose circulation is “today in the minority” but which presents “a risk of immune escape and vaccine “, according to the General Directorate of Health (DGS). The health protocol had already been toughened against the British variant, the most common in France.

Olivier Véran wants to be reassuring

The South African variant is of particular concern because the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, the third authorized in the European Union, on this virus mutation, has been questioned.

In South Africa, the authorities suspended their vaccination campaign after the publication of a study in this direction.

The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, wanted to reassure on franceinfo vis-à-vis caregivers, to whom this vaccine is reserved, by affirming that “today 99% of the viral strains circulating in metropolitan France do not correspond not the South African variant “. The day before, the Minister had received in front of the cameras the first injection of this AstraZeneca vaccine, as a health professional under 65 years old.

Nearly 367,000 vaccinated in France

At the last count Tuesday, France had 1.9 million people who had received at least one dose, including 366,733 vaccinated with the two necessary doses.

Olivier Véran assured that the government remained “in a very important state of vigilance” in the face of the epidemic, in particular on the evolution of the British variant, which is more contagious.