Document is current

Article History

Received: 9 November 2020

Accepted: 8 February 2021

First Online: 22 February 2021

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: The study was based on data collected directly from health professionals for the purpose of an investigation led by Santé publique France according to its legal missions and prerogatives toward medical confidentiality. This research does not involve human beings for which French law requires the approval of an ethics committee; research involving humans is defined by French law (article L. 1121–1 and R1121–1 Code de la santé publique) as research aimed at improving medical or biological knowledge. The objective of this investigation conducted by Santé publique France was rather to identify the origin and scope of a group in order to take measures to prevent the spread of infection. Therefore, this study only had to comply with the personal data protection law [General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Directive 95/46/EC) and the French data protection law (Law n°78–17 on 06/01/1978 and Décret n°2019–536 on 29/05/2019)]. Data processing was necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest (article 6. E of GDPR). Informed consent was obtained from all participants (article 13 GDPR). No person under 18 years was included in this investigation.All experimental protocols were approved by Santé publique France. All methods were carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations of Santé publique France.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interest.