France likely to have fourth wave of COVID - government adviser

[June 30, 2021]  PARIS (Reuters) - France is likely to have a fourth wave of the COVID-19 virus, due to a resurgence of cases caused by the Delta variant first found in India, said the French government's leading scientific adviser Professor Jean-François Delfraissy.

Nevertheless, Delfraissy added on Wednesday that the rollout of COVID vaccines would help mitigate the effect of this new wave of the virus, which many medical experts think could hit France by September or October.

"I think we will have a fourth wave, but it will be much more moderate than the previous three waves because the level of vaccinations is different compared to before," Delfraissy told France Info radio.

French epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet, who also advises the French government on scientific matters, told BFM TV on Wednesday that he expected France's COVID-19 infection numbers to rise again in September or October.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran said earlier this week that the COVID Delta variant, whose rapid spread around the world has led some countries to reimpose travel restrictions, now represented around 20% of France's COVID cases.

Graphic: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/

Graphic: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/

(Reporting by Hayat Gazzane and Matthieu Protard; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

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