The incidence rate soars in Vaucluse and the outbreak of the Covid epidemic accentuates the blood pressure in the hospital from Avignon. “Hospital tension is very high, particularly in terms of resuscitation. Every day, we are forced to transfer patients to other departments, especially in the Bouches-du-Rhône, but this weekend, a patient was also transferred to Mende hospital, in Lozère “, details this Monday morning Loïc Souriau, the director of the Regional Health Agency in Vaucluse, guest of France Bleu Vaucluse.

France Bleu Vaucluse: Where are we with the Covid epidemic in Vaucluse?

Loïc Souriau: The incidence rate increased sharply the two weeks before Christmas and today we have an incidence rate which is around 1,000. The hospital tension is strong, very strong, particularly at the level of resuscitation. Every day, practically, we are forced to contract Covid patients to other departments, particularly in the Bouches du Rhône. But this weekend, a patient was also evacuated to Mende hospital, in Lozère. The intensive care unit in Avignon is full, it is saturated: 21 beds are occupied. From today, resuscitation will increase to 26 beds to cope with precisely this epidemic outbreak.

And unfortunately, the death counter also resumes. We are facing a wave within a wave: with the Delta which still remains the majority in Vaucluse and the Omicron which today represents 30 to 40% of new contaminations.

Can we already tell if the Omicron variant is less serious than the previous variants?

For now, we are at the start of this Omicron pandemic. It is still difficult to be to say it confidently. Nevertheless, on the foreign experience, Great Britain, South Africa and it turns out that the virulence would be less. Which is still very good news. But on the other hand, the contagiousness is much higher than the Delta. So, mechanically, we risk having more patients who follow to be hospitalized anyway because of the strong contagiousness of the Omicron.

Do the new health measures which come into force on Monday seem sufficient to deal with this 5th wave?

You know, we must manage to reconcile the imperative of continuity of public service activities, private service activities, essential activities and indeed limit new contaminations. This is what guides these new measures: teleworking, but also isolation protocols … But the real measure, the heart of the strategy, is vaccination and this is why the vaccine booster must be carried out as quickly as possible by all eligible persons. I sincerely wish to remind you that the recall campaign is continuing in full swing and I invite the Vauclusiennes and Vauclusiens to quickly go and realize their dose of recall: it is a real armor against the Omicron variant.

Loïc Souriau’s responses to France Bleu Vaucluse listeners

The director of the ARS in Vaucluse, Loïc Souriau, also answered questions from the listeners of France Bleu Vaucluse this Monday morning. Many questions related to vaccination and obtaining the vaccine pass after testing positive for Covid. “Covid infection is the equivalent of a vaccination dose but the certificate is only valid for six months, so you have to do a booster dose afterwards,” Loïc Souriau indicates in particular. Regarding serology, it is “not a reliable indicator”, he explains.

A simulator on the health insurance website also allows you to take stock of your personal situation to find out what dose of vaccine is needed: monrappelvaccincovid.ameli.fr