The Codeco will meet at 2 p.m. this Friday, after numerous postponements, to assess the measures still necessary in the face of the coronavirus. We are talking about abandoning the mask in public transport, reviewing travel arrangements and we are anticipating next fall, which could see a potential new wave form.
The evolution of the epidemic in our country remains very favorable, with a further drop in hospitalizations in the assessment of the day. A good omen and probably the signal that we can still let go.
“We have almost abandoned all measures. And I think that wearing a mask can be dropped, it is quite reasonable, even if we may rather advise the population to leave the mask when it is. is the rush hour », explained Yves Coppieters at the microphone of Maxime Binet on DH Radio, this morning.
« The general message to people will be ‘do what you want’, but we use everyone’s common sense, » he continues. “And the mask remains an interesting individual protection. Regarding the maintenance of an obligation in hospitals, medical practices, it is logical because that is where the frequency of Covid is the most important and that is where it there are also the most vulnerable people ».
The Covid Safe Ticket was normally due to die in the coming weeks, but the Federal Minister of Health, Franck Vandenbroucke, would like to temporarily put it away.
A position that Yves Coppieters does not understand. « The CST has not proven itself, it is a tool that has not changed the profile of the epidemic and it has been completely overtaken by the wave linked to the Omicron variant. It should not be put away temporarily, it must be deleted ».
Other tools must however be maintained. « Testing and tracing contacts are the basic strategy in the face of an epidemic of this type. We must continue, but we must not test everyone, just anyhow. We must only target those at risk. If, out of the 18,000 current tests, we only test people who go on vacation, it’s not very interesting. On the other hand, if we target symptomatic and at-risk people, there it is useful « .
What about the corona barometer? « Like CST, it’s untested and it came very late. We put it in place with Omicron which changed the face of the epidemic. It’s not a good tool in its form current, we can bury it ».
A new vaccination campaign?
The question of a new vaccination campaign will also arise. But the professor of public health is reserved. « It should certainly not be relaunched on a population scale, it has no scientific basis for the moment. For the most fragile, immunocompromised, people who have responded less well to the first doses etc., yes, a new dose of vaccine can be considered, like any individual medical decision”.
Yves Coppieters also provided an update on the arrival of a universal vaccine, which would protect against all strains. “It is not there yet but could arrive quite quickly. It will undoubtedly be a vaccine updated each year, like that of the flu and which will concern people likely to have serious forms of the disease”.
Red and green card to public authorities
« I am sending my red card to the public authorities, who do not anticipate what will happen next autumn », explained Yves Coppieters. « The only anticipations go through the return of the CST. Next week, there will also be a debate in parliament on the vaccination obligation, when we understood that it was not a major strategy to manage the rest of the epidemic. And we imagine also bringing out the corona barometer. I have the impression that we are anticipating the wrong tools. That’s not how we’re going to manage the crisis next fall, if we have a new wave. The questions are: what do we do for fragile people? And how can people reduce their contamination in everyday life? We must think about wearing a mask, ventilation with true standards etc. »
But the green card of the guest goes to the same public authorities. “We are in a positive period, our policies let us breathe, the Consultation Committees have been postponed. It is very positive on a psychological level”, rejoices Yves Coppieters. « We may be making a small mistake in believing that the crisis has disappeared, because it is not the case. But this breath of fresh air, which I hope will last at least until September, is very positive » , he concludes.
An update on monkeypox
Yves Coppieters also spoke about monkeypox, when a first case was detected in Belgium. Without alarmism.
“It is already important that we are able to identify it and we can see that the surveillance systems for infectious diseases have been more efficient in Europe since Covid. We must also remember that it is an already known virus. Transmission is done rather with an animal, human-to-human transmission is quite exceptional », reassures the professor.
« It is not a dangerous virus a priori, but there are serious forms. Patients have a form of flu with a rash. Most forms are mild. But in homes where the disease is poorly taken care of load, as in Africa, we can have a lethality of up to 5% ».
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