The "5th wave is here," government spokesman Gabriel Attal warned Wednesday during the Council of Ministers report.

For two weeks, the number of contaminations has indeed increased very rapidly, of the order of 40 to 50% per week.

The incidence rate, which measures the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants, is now over 100 across the country.

"It is particularly high in Corsica, Provence Alpes Côte-d'Azur and the Pays de la Loire region", warned Gabriel Attal.

According to figures from Public Health France published Tuesday evening, nearly 20,000 new contaminations have been recorded in the last 24 hours, a record since the end of August.

Covid-19: situation in AFP hospitals

However, does this increase translate into a rise in the hospitalization curve, which characterized the first waves of the epidemic?

"A record"

"We feel a shudder, a slightly greater than 10% increase in patients hospitalized for Covid over a week and this therefore calls for vigilance", noted Mr. Attal, while describing a "decorrelation" between "contaminations and hospitalizations ".

Currently, 7,535 patients are hospitalized with a diagnosis of Covid-19.

A year ago, at the peak of the second wave, they were 33,466.

The government wants to be reassuring: "We have good reasons to think that (the 5th wave) will not win everything in its path", thanks to "the effectiveness of the vaccine", the health pass and respect for barrier gestures , said the spokesperson.

Caregivers at the Montpellier University Hospital Center, November 5, 2021 Pascal GUYOT AFP / Archives

He echoed in this the words of the President of the Scientific Council, Jean-François Delfraissy, Wednesday morning on France Inter, who estimated that the care system has "probably the capacity" to face this fifth wave, if "all tools "such as vaccination and barrier gestures are used to the maximum.

The government is also counting on the continuation of vaccination, especially of the most vulnerable.

Last week, Emmanuel Macron announced that the health pass would be subject to the vaccination booster for those over 65 from December 15, and that the booster dose would be open from the beginning of December to those over 50.

"During the day yesterday, nearly 200,000 booster doses were injected, it is a record", welcomed Gabriel Attal, noting "an impact of the speech of the President of the Republic".

"All this can allow us to get through the winter without having to take additional (restrictive) measures," he insisted.

Elderly person receives 3rd dose of Covid-19 vaccine on September 13, 2021 in Paris THOMAS COEX AFP / Archives

3rd dose "very likely"

In recent days, several European countries, admittedly more affected than France by the epidemic rebound, have decided on a series of turns of the screw.

Austria has announced a lockdown for the unvaccinated.

The Netherlands have reintroduced partial containment.

And Sweden announced on Wednesday the introduction, for the first time, of a vaccination pass for certain events.

"Today, it is not planned to take additional measures. Does that mean that there will not be tomorrow? No", said Gabriel Attal cautiously.

Thus, "the government wants to quickly clarify the rules for wearing a mask in places closed with sanitary pass" (restaurants, places of shows, etc.), which often remain unclear or poorly known, we have in any case learned Wednesday from government source.

The debate is also open on the need for a booster dose for all French people.

Professor Delfraissy judged that "we will very probably have to go towards a third dose" of vaccine "in the general population".

Asked on the same subject on Europe 1, Prof. Alain Fischer, "Mr. vaccination" of the government, declared that "the time will undoubtedly come for recall, everything in its time".

But the third dose for the whole population is "very likely".

© 2021 AFP