As the Health Minister announced the fifth Covid-19 wave was peaking in mid-December, epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet thinks it is more likely to occur in "mid-January". Interviewed by the "Le Journal du Dimanche", he adds "the hospital peak could occur a week later and Île-de-France will be the first one hit".
The epidemiologist relies on distanciation and working from home to make it through the peak, likely to be short, Omicron being less severe than Delta.
This January 7, 2022, invited on LCI, French government's "Mister Vaccine" Alain Fischer confirms his peer's hypotheses. Relying on works by Simon Cauchemez - memer of the Security Committee - Alain Fischer says "contaminations are to peak in a dozen days". We hope the contamination toll will start decreasing from January 17, relieving the pressure on hospitals and pharmacies, overwhelmed by screen tests.
The country does not move at the same pace in this epidemic: some regions could peak before others. "There are differences. Paris is beyond, for instance", Alain Fischer says, alluding to the impact of Omicron on contamination data.
Extremely contagious, Omicron has made cases skyrocket in France, breaking records: 335,000 new cases have been reported on Wednesday January 5, a worrying threshold. The Omicron variant has taken over Europe and France, boosting the fifth wave again, and it has become dominant in plenty of countries, France including. And yet, scientists are seeing some hope in the situation.
According to Arnaud Fontanet, this Covid is eventually likely to join "the other human and seasonal coronaviruses giving us cold, and tonsilitis every winter". He thinks Covid-19 variant will give less and less severe disease and the new vaccines and therapies are likely to make the next waves "less painful". There again, Alain Fischer agrees: "This new variant leads to less severe infections, with fewer risks. Perhaps it is the beginning of an already-known evolution for other respiratory viruses, namely a progressive easing of the virus, like a cold every winter?", he wonders on LCI.
Although the idea of a close end of the epidemic is starting to rise, efforts should continue. To try and stop the spread of the variant, the government made new measures as the Holidays were close, with compulsory facemask-wearing outdoor again, ban of eating or drinking in public transit, or even eating or drinking while standing.
