Invited from Europe Evening, Thursday, epidemiologist Antoine Flahault reacted to Jean Castex's extension of confinement for at least two weeks.

For the director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Geneva, "it is certainly the right choice" for the next two weeks.

INTERVIEW

The announcement was predictable: Jean Castex indicated Thursday evening that the confinement imposed to curb the coronavirus epidemic would be extended for at least two weeks.

For the Prime Minister, the recent downward trend in the number of positive cases is "fragile" and "to be confirmed".

Antoine Flahault, epidemiologist and guest of Europe Soir, believes that "it is certainly the right choice because we are at the top" of the second wave of Covid-19 in France.

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"Maintain this collective pressure"

For the director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, "the good news is that we have reached this peak and it is already starting to come down."

This does not imply, according to him, a loosening of the current constraints, in force until December 1: "We must maintain this collective pressure on the virus by having as few interactions as possible, until we have regained control of the epidemic ", he insists.

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If it is therefore necessary to continue the efforts decided almost two weeks ago for the entire territory, there is hope, as many specialists have noted since the beginning of the week.

The Irish example

Professor Antoine Flahault takes the example of Ireland, which has decided to re-define itself a few days before France in the face of the resurgence of cases and hospitalizations.

"The Irish took about 15 days to hurtle down the slope and return to this safety zone I'm talking about," he said.

In France, "it is possible if we manage to go down to an epidemic reproduction rate of 0.7 or 0.6", whereas the "R0" has temporarily fallen below the bar of 1 in our country .