The French Health Minister has warned the country is gripped by the Delta variant and warned the “fourth wave is already here.”
Figures suggest that nine out of 10 people who are newly infected have not had the vaccine and Olivier Veran said that the “fourth wave is already here.”
He said France has seen a 130% increase of infections and the virus is ripping through the country much faster than the first wave, and added, that “now it’s the time to act.”
The Health Minister said, “This collective protection is essential to all. We prefer collective responsibility over individualism.”
Veran added, “If we had not had the vaccine to protect the most fragile, I am not even sure that a general lockdown today would allow us to protect our hospitals and save as many lives as we could save during the year 2020.”
Speaking to French radio RTL the French Health Minister said, “Our indicators have started to increase” and stressed that “today it is an epidemic of young people.
He warned the virus cane spread to the most fragile people as it did in the summer of 2020.
Verna added, “The 20-30-year-olds, in some regions, are those with the highest incidence rate.
“We understand why, it is because young people are less protected (…) the good news is that they do develop less serious forms, so they require less hospitalisation.”