The symbolic threshold has been reached, raising fears of a new wave of Covid-19. The number of coronavirus screening tests “again crossed” one million last week, according to figures published Thursday by the Ministry of Health, attesting to the start of an eighth epidemic wave.
The recovery is clear: with 1,132,300 PCR and antigen tests validated between September 12 and 18, screening activity is up “sharply” by 33% compared to the previous week, indicates the statistics department (Drees ) in a press release. This barometer of the health crisis thus exceeds the symbolic threshold of one million for the first time in six weeks, after having reached its lowest levels in August for two years.
Many contaminations in children
The rebound is particularly strong among young people under 16, whose number of tests almost doubled (+97%) last week. This tends to confirm that the observed increase in contamination is “mainly driven” by this age group, as Public Health France noted in its last weekly update.
Children and adults combined, the daily number of positive cases has almost doubled in two weeks and now exceeds 30,000 (on average over 7 days). “There is objectively an increase in cases, especially among young people”, recognizes the Director General of Health (DGS) Jérôme Salomon, in an extract from the magazine “Complément d’Enquête” which will be broadcast Thursday evening on France 2, but already published on the France Info website.
Wakeup call
Number 2 of the Ministry of Health nevertheless believes that “the French have perfectly understood what the responses were to this re-ascent of Covid cases”, namely “to resume the barrier gestures that we know perfectly well and, for all people who have an indication for vaccination, to recall them”.
This new injection could be done “at the same time as the flu reminder”, he adds, “since it is the same old and fragile people who must be vaccinated this fall”.