The establishment of local confinements in the territories most affected by Covid-19, a hypothesis considered by some elected officials, would have only a limited impact on the circulation of the virus according to several epidemiologists.

In particular, it appears complicated to completely isolate certain regions from the rest of France.

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The government is asking local elected officials from 20 departments, under "enhanced surveillance", to propose new health measures to slow the worrying progression of the Covid-19 epidemic in these territories.

A progress report should be completed within a week.

The hypothesis of local confinements is therefore on the table.

The mayor of Paris mentioned in particular Thursday evening the possibility of a three-week confinement in the capital, but this type of measure leaves some scientists skeptical, in particular because of the lack of studies on the subject.

On a city scale, this is of no interest, explains on Europe 1 Professor Gilles Pialoux, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at Tenon hospital in Paris.

He believes that we have to see more broadly.

"I do not know if three weeks will be enough since it will depend on the level at which this decision will be taken, regionally or nationally. Paris does not exist at the level of the circulation of the virus, (…) overall the incidence concerns the whole of the Island. de-France ", he notes.

"The borders between departments are very porous. I think we should rather have a reflection at the regional level than at the level of the city", adds Gilles Pialoux.

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But can we establish a cordon sanitaire between a region and the rest of the territory?

"When it comes to an island, like New Zealand, it simplifies things, but in this case we will have to think about protecting the virtual borders of the region from the arrival of the virus from the outside" , points in the columns of

Figaro

 Antoine Flahault, professor of public health at the University of Geneva.

"It would be necessary to wall up the Île-de-France", abounds Benjamin Davido infectiologist at the Raymond Poincaré hospital in Garches, also with the daily.

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For Gilles Pialoux, only a reconfinement of the whole of the territory is capable of putting a stop to the epidemic, but of a duration of more than three weeks as the monitoring indicators are high.

"The problem is that these debates [on the effectiveness of local confinements, editor's note] are only pushing back something which, in terms of health, is inexorable: namely real confinement, and unfortunately lasting because of the level current circulation of the virus ", he concludes, still on Europe 1.