INTERVIEW
After 5 days of deconfinement, and while this first weekend, under close surveillance, sounds like a test, the specter of a second wave of the coronavirus epidemic remains. However, at the microphone of Europe 1, the epidemiologist and professor at the University of Geneva Antoine Flahault, who recalls the importance of respecting the instructions of the health authorities, notes that, for the time being, "the decline is confirmed" in the country.
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"We are in a period where we look at the situation very carefully, like milk on the fire, to avoid having a rebound effect," analyzes the specialist. But, he adds, "for the moment, it is clear that the effective reproduction rate (R) of the virus, which must remain below 1, is well controlled in France. For six consecutive days, it is below 1, and we have less than 1,000 cases a day. " Thus, assures Antoine Flahault, "the decline is confirmed, and there is today no sign of rebound".
"The strategy is to operate a sort of deconfinement airlock"
In France, while deconfinement is gradually taking place, but restaurants and bars remain closed, for example, "the strategy adopted, as in most European countries, is to operate a sort of deconfinement airlock", explains the epidemiologist.
"It will last three weeks-a month, during which we will be under close surveillance, but without letting go of all the brakes. We recommend everyone to participate in this effort, to increase social distancing, to wear masks, to test more and to trace more the contacts of promising people ", continues Antoine Flahault. "And all this will participate in supporting deconfinement so that after a month, if there is no rebound, we can liberate the population much more and have as much as possible a return that resembles the life of 'before."
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The objective, he reminds, "is not to prevent that there can be chains of transmission in closed environments, because that should occur, the virus continuing to circulate". The aim is rather to "protect the elderly and the most vulnerable, and avoid clogging up the intensive care unit". However, concludes Antoine Flahault, this objective has been met for the time being: "Tension is decreasing in hospitals."