As expected since Friday, the public authorities strengthened, Monday, October 5, the restrictive measures in the Paris region in order to halt the progression of the Covid-19 epidemic in Paris and in the inner suburbs.

Closed bars and sports halls, a new reinforced health protocol for restaurants or the establishment of a density "gauge" to avoid population concentrations are all new measures which come into force on Tuesday.

These restrictions "are strong, very impacting on the social and economic plan", explains to France 24 Antoine Flahaut, epidemiologist.

Before continuing: "All the countries which have done the best in health and economic terms are those which have succeeded in putting (in place) these unpopular measures early and long enough for us to see a shift in the curve. - which is absolutely essential. "

The epidemiologist specifies, moreover, that the new restrictions "are less strong measures than very strict confinement as France experienced" in March-April.

"Adapt to the epidemiological situation"

Paris and its inner suburbs have been in a "maximum alert zone" since Monday, as Guadeloupe and the Aix-Marseille metropolis are already.

Bars and restaurants have had to temporarily pull back the curtain ... while it is only a question of closing bars in Paris.

"These measures can sometimes seem contradictory, in reality they are totally guided by epidemiological indicators" for each territory, explains Antoine Flahaut, who takes the example of Australia where restrictions "have made it possible to prevent the epidemic from spreading. is spreading too much over the whole (country). "

The epidemiologist recalls that "uniform national management" of the health crisis last spring "was done in a bit of an emergency (and) did not have much more added value than" territorial "measures.

According to Antoine Flahaut, the latter "are more targeted, more chiseled, more surgical and aim to adapt to the epidemiological situation".

"Do not allow yourself to have overcrowded hospitals"

The announcement of these new measures, Monday, comes after the deterioration of several health indicators in Ile-de-France, including the incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants.

But the daily number of people infected with the coronavirus remains, however, much higher than the number of people who develop a deadly form of Covid-19.

"It is a somewhat paradoxical situation that we see throughout Europe where the number of deaths was contained until the end of September", specifies Antoine Flahaut.

The epidemiologist warns that the health situation is changing: "We are now in a situation that we know better with Covid-19, where morbidity is accompanied by high mortality and resuscitation beds that are starting to be occupied in a significant proportion. "

The saturation of hospital capacity, "this is what must be avoided at all costs," says the specialist.

"We could not afford to have overcrowded hospitals that would no longer treat patients. The current restrictive measures are aimed at controlling this effect."

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