Patients with a severe form of Covid-19 continue to arrive at the intensive care unit of Bordeaux University Hospital -

Mickaël Bosredon / 20Minutes

  • Indicators relating to the coronavirus epidemic in Bordeaux and Gironde have started to rise again in recent weeks.

  • Health officials believe that antigen testing is useful for people with symptoms or who have been at risk.

    They alert you to the possibility of false negatives.

  • Less than ten days before Christmas they remind us of the need to respect barrier gestures and to reduce one's social bubble, to prevent a third wave from breaking out after the holidays.

This Wednesday, less than ten days before Christmas, 143 people are hospitalized at Bordeaux University Hospital due to Covid-19, against 123 a week earlier.

Among them, 43 are in intensive care.

"After a decline, we have observed a plateau for ten days with small peaks of activity linked to Covid-19", points out Yann Bubien, director of the Bordeaux University Hospital.

For him, "the indicators are not very good but the situation is not alarming, on the eve of the Christmas family reunion and New Year's Day friends".

It is the cases in people over 75 years that are particularly increasing.

"Screening is not the miracle solution"

Full testing is not a good strategy and health authorities point to a problem with the reliability of antigenic tests.

"These tests show a deterioration in their sensitivity: they are effective if you have had symptoms for less than four days or if you have had a risky exposure the previous week," explains Professor Patrick Dehail, medical adviser to the director general of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Health Agency.

But, if we are in neither of these two cases, we observe a lot of false negatives, therefore, we should not use these tests for reassurance ”.

On the other hand, they are of great value in the event of a positive result since the person tested can isolate themselves quickly.

The RT-PCR test remains the benchmark for screening for Covid-19.

"The test is not an immunity passport, you have to be careful in the days that follow not to contaminate yourself", adds Yann Bubien.

“Screening is not the miracle solution, supports Pierre Hurmic, mayor of Bordeaux.

You have to rely on individual efforts to respect barrier gestures and limit non-imperative contacts.

"

Avoid the 3rd wave

Professor Denis Malvy, head of the tropical diseases and travelers unit of the CHU, estimates that we are in Bordeaux in a similar situation on August 20, before the second wave.

But in addition, the winter cold is there and promotes the virus.

“There is a need to reappropriate barrier measures,” insists the specialist.

Without them, we will see a third wave break that the introduction of the vaccine will not be able to stop anyway since to achieve "a sufficient level of immunity, it will be necessary to wait for the summer", he believes.

Those who are symptomatic or who have been in a risk context can be tested quickly in the Bordeaux metropolis.

The CHU, for example, is able to perform 2,000 tests per day, but it does ten times less today.

It is advisable to make an appointment and avoid waiting until the last moment before the holidays, otherwise there will be traffic jams in screening centers.

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