Olivier Véran, the French Health minister said on Sunday that the Covid-19 situation in France was improving, but that he still had concerns with regards to the so-called delta variant, identified in India, and the laxity observed among some people who had received the first dose of a vaccine.
The French health minister, Olivier Véran, said in an interview with BFMTV on Sunday 6 June that, "overall, the epidemic situation continues to improve significantly throughout the country", with "a drop of 20 to 25 percent in the circulation of the virus each week".
"The gradual easing of lockdown has not broken this virtuous dynamic of reducing the epidemic," he said.
However, the health minister spoke of maintaining "vigilance" on two levels.
He deplored "a reflex, which must absolutely be abandoned, of some French people, who, as soon as they receive a first injection of vaccine, relax their efforts".
"In hospital wards, we have a certain number of patients who have been primo-vaccinated and who thought they were safe too soon.
"You are protected when you are a few days after the second injection. The level of protection conferred by a single injection, especially just a few days later, is far too low for it to make any difference in your daily life", he added.
Véran also stated that outdoors, masks will continue to be mandatory for the month of June "until necessary".
Covid "war" over in autumn?
His "second level of vigilance" concerns the 'delta variant', first identified in India, which is behind a worrying new spike in cases in the United Kingdom. Authorities have warned the variant was 40 percent more transmissible than the original virus.
"We are not recording any community spread of this variant, there is no extension of the epidemic," Véran explained. However, there are clusters, particularly in the Landes region.
According to Véran, the "battle" will be "won" when the number of patients in intensive care "falls below 2,000" (compared to 2,525 on 5 June).
The "war" against Covid-19 he insisted will not be over until the autumn at the earliest. If no new wave appears at that time, "we will be able to say that Covid is over".
