Very contagious, of uncertain dangerous danger, responding less to vaccines and most drugs available, poorly followed by the tests: the robot portrait of this new variant starts to be clarified.
The coronavirus, once again, plays the celebrations of the end of the year. But he changed his face. Under the Omicron Variant Mask, this new SAR-COV-2 avatar spreads at a crazy speed. “In Ile-de-France, it now represents nearly half of the new cases of infection,” says Florence Debarre, a specialist in evolutive biology at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris.
“In a few days, this virus will be dominant in France,” said 23 December Jean-François DELFRISY, President of the Covid-19 Scientific Council, who organized a press conference dedicated to this new public enemy number one . “Wednesday, just over 84,000 new cases have been declared in France. Its growth is extremely fast, especially among the 20-29 years old. In January, hundreds of thousands of new cases a day is expected”, Underlined Arnaud Fontanet, epidemiologist and a member of the Scientific Council. Thursday, the number of contaminations reached 91,608 new cases, a record.
Much more contagious than his alpha cousin, present at last winter, or even that the delta variant, already very transmissible and responsible for the fifth wave in Europe, Omicron retains a part of mystery. The most acute question, at this stage, is due to its health and societal impact. “It’s a really different variant. You have to be careful in both directions, without reassuring or worrying at excess,” says Florence debar. There is, in fact, a very high degree of uncertainty linked to this variant, highlighted the Scientific Council.
The first uncertainty has an air of already-view: what will be the number of hospitalizations and serious illnesses caused by this variant in the coming weeks? The second, she holds to “something new, observed Jean-François Delfféy. From January, this variant could lead to a possible disorganization of society.” The multiplication of infections, work stoppages and the Absenteeism related to Omicron’s Drafting could, in fact, “pushing problems in the strategic sectors of our company: food distribution, safety, transport, communication and health,” listed Olivier Guérin, a member of the Scientific Council.
Horizon’s tour of what we know about this intruder who arises, it is true, at the worst moment. Just after the peak of the Delta wave, still very high. And just before Christmas and the New Year … Will the holidays of holidays be bitter?
- an extremely transmissible variant
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