What if France opted for a "zero Covid" strategy, as in Australia?

Guest of Patrick Cohen in Europe Midi, the epidemiologist and director of the Institute for Global Health in Geneva, Antoine Flahault, estimated that like New Zealand or Australia, European countries should opt for a zero Covid strategy, by being more proactive than reactive.

INTERVIEW

In his book

Covid, the masked ball - Who led the dance?

The story and the lessons of a planetary crisis, 

Antoine Flahault, epidemiologist and director of the Institute of Global Health in Geneva, draws the lessons of a year of pandemic using international comparisons and portraits.

Guest of Patrick Cohen on Wednesday in Europe Midi, he suggested that France be inspired by countries like Australia and New Zealand, which have been the champions of this health crisis by applying a zero Covid strategy.

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"I would not allow myself to judge the political decisions of one or the other in Europe. But at this time when we are not in a period of severe exponential growth of the virus, we can bring different elements or different possible strategies in public debate. And even in democratic debate. There are other solutions than to react only when one is in an explosive situation. "

"Europeans are still running behind the curve"

Antoine Flahault notably took the example of the strict confinement announced on January 4 by Boris Johnson.

"In Britain, the British public health system said that if you continued at this rate, which was exponential, three weeks later the English could not be treated. So he didn't have any No choice but to decide on strict containment. And that's a bit like how Europeans react: they react well, but always running behind an epidemic curve. "

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This professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Geneva proposes, with other European scientists, to do precisely the opposite.

According to him, it would rather be inspired by populations more proactive than reactive, like the Asians or those of the Pacific.

These tend to prevent the circulation of the virus at the time of the recession by not letting it rise again.

This makes it possible to imagine a life without the virus, as in Australia or New Zealand.

Of course, this requires sometimes drastic measures.

“These are countries which have reconfigured for three cases in New Zealand and eight in Australia,” recognizes Antoine Flahault.

But these reconfigurations are minimal, "respectively three days and five days". 

The benefit, on the other hand, is significant.

“One could frankly envy Melbourne. Just before confinement, there were 30,000 unmasked spectators in an arena to watch the Australian Open, you could go to bars and restaurants at night and life is much, much more relax. And it's the same in Japan. ”

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As the epidemiologist explains, what these countries are looking for is to suppress the circulation of the virus as much as possible, so as to be able to live in an "almost normal" state.

"We must admit that when you are on a small island in the middle of the Atlantic or the Pacific, it is probably easier to implement," he also admits. 

A necessary European consultation

"To put this strategy in place at home, all of Europe would have to agree and put in place very strict health controls at the borders. We would therefore need prior European consultation."

But nothing impossible, believes Antoine Flahault.

"Ultimately, countries like Germany, Denmark or the Netherlands might want a zero Covid strategy precisely because they are arriving in the green zone, that is to say in decline after strict containment."

A desire that would inevitably have consequences for other States.

"At that point, they could ask France or Belgium, for example, if they want to participate in this strategy. And if not, they could refuse to see nationals of those countries coming. at home without very, very strong measures. "

Didier Raoult, "precious flashes" but a character too "divisive"

In his book, Antoine Flahault also devotes a chapter to Didier Raoult.

According to him, "many of the flashes or positions" of the Marseille professor of medicine "were very valuable and would have been very useful if they had been adopted in France", in particular that of massively screening very early, set up at the IHU of Marseilles.

But Didier Raoult was wrong to be "divisive", which prevented his good ideas from infusing and being adopted.

The epidemiologist also draws a parallel between Didier Raoult and Galileo, both convinced to be right against the whole earth.

"All researchers are a bit like that following research", recognizes Antoine Flahault.

"But it is absolutely necessary that the enthusiasm withdraws a little at a certain point, to have an objective evaluation. Sometimes, this objective evaluation does not conclude in your favor, and there you have to bow. that, in my opinion, that works the scientific process. "