“To get out of this epidemic, we must adopt the logic of ventilating the population.”

He defends the benefits of the outdoors … while confinement is decided over the weekend In the coastal towns of Alpes-Maritimes, And for the epidemic to be an appeal
Under close scrutiny in Dunkirk To slow the spread of the virus, which is increasing sharply,
General practitioner Guillaume Barouq In Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) on the contrary it calls for a relaxation of procedures in
Coastal areas. After he was an environmental assistant to the mayor of Biarritz
Michel Fionnac (MoDem), Guillaume Barucq ranked second in the recent municipal elections (26.3%) under the “Focusing on the Environment” list. He is now a city councilor. He is also the author of SurfTherapy and Detoxseafication. He answered questions from 20 minutes.

You talk a lot on social networks, especially to denounce containment measures in coastal areas, why?

Confining the coastline is nonsense. I am one of the rare doctors who is still interested in what medicine was in the past, and in particular what made the origin of thalassotherapy in France. For decades, doctors have described the environments and climates in which we have known that wind and sunlight conditions are best to prevent infection. In 2021 it appears that we have wiped out this basic knowledge with the stroke of a pen. We are asked, when we are at home, to ventilate our rooms, and on the other hand, we cannot perceive that the outdoors are not places of transmission, it is illogical.

However, in the Maritime Alps, we can clearly see that the development of the epidemic has begun to rise again …

Yes, but the question you should ask yourself is where did these people get infected? No On the Corniche des Anglais Or on the beaches, but like anywhere else in closed spaces, homes and care buildings. Beaches, even with people around, are not a danger zone, as the air is constantly renewed. So if people get infected indoors, logic dictates that we encourage them to be outside more. Let people enjoy it, they need it for their physical, respiratory and psychological health …

Do you go any further and even say that wearing a mask outdoors is unnecessary?

There is no study proving that there is a benefit in wearing a muzzle outdoors. An outdoor mask – beach, country, mountain – is useless. We can be free to wear it so why not, but I don’t understand why we keep forcing something that is scientifically illogical. We can ask ourselves the question about some of the very busy streets, even if I have never heard of a gathering Saint Catherine Street in Bordeaux. You are infecting yourself in an enclosed space where there is at least one infected person, and when you do not open the windows, the viral load in the room increases. We must stop thinking that we are polluting ourselves by taking breaths of air where the Coronavirus is present in it. This is not enough to get injured. And we must remember that sea air rich in mineral salts is beneficial because it promotes respiratory health. We must recommend the seaside!

If we listen to you, everyone flocks to the beaches tomorrow, and we end up with crowded beaches, which can be dangerous, right?

Our coastal resorts were born at that time tuberculosis. We started by quarantining people, locking them in, but we are not out of epidemics. When doctors realized that sea air is good, we sent hundreds of people to the seashore, and on the Atlantic Ocean we still have tens of kilometers of beaches. We had a crazy crowd last summer, and there was no starting point for the pollution. I realize that some situations in the Mediterranean, with sometimes big cities and small beaches, are more problematic.

In your opinion, the 6 pm curfew should also be lifted, which could be counter-productive?

There is a study of Toulouse Which indicates that it makes things worse. The curfew in an area like ours is an aberration. In Biarritz we are not in a pandemic situation, so why encourage people to go and reserve themselves at the end of the afternoon, when the weather is good? It reassures me more when I see young people organizing an aperitif in the Côte des Basques, rather than knowing they are having parties in cramped venues. Why do epidemics collapse once the good weather returns? There are environmental conditions, but they are also related to our situations: Once the weather is nice, we are more outside, and transport chains break on their own. To get out of this epidemic in a sustainable way, we must adopt the logic of ventilating the population.

Especially since all this also has psychological effects on the population as well?

The effects are dire. There is progress on the population, which is bleak. In our patient base, we noticed a worsening of the condition in patients who were already suffering from psychological problems, and we saw new patients emerging with no psychological history and who had lost their foothold during this epidemic, for economic or social reasons or because of a lack of hope. Many people balance their lives through sporting or cultural activities, which blocks all of these outlets, and increases stress levels in the population. That is why it is time to loosen the grip, especially since vaccination is coming and now we know very well this virus and its methods of transmission.

However, can we estimate that the government is hearing these arguments, as only local containment measures are being taken at the moment, while some scholars are calling for tighter containment across the country?

Finally, do I want to say … But we were the most besieged country than others. And the countries that are confined today, while they were confined to us less than we have so far, have additional mental resources among the population, I think of Germany in particular. We have already gone through two closures, the second dealt a real hit behind people’s heads, and the third would be too much of the lockdown. I admit that the President of the Republic is aware of this in the face of a few scientific figures in the media, who are rarely field doctors. To get an idea of ​​the crisis, you need to talk to your GP, who has a very good idea of ​​what is happening in the general population.