Facing COVID-19 by the Confinement : EBM, 'MBM' or 'SBM'?

On December 31, 2019: the World Health Organization (WHO) was alerted on cases of atypical pneumonia in Wuhan (Hubei Province of China) by the Taiwan Center for Disease Control (CDC) which, also, expressed reservations on the fact that the cases were not severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as told by the Chinese health authorities. The etiological agent responsible, SARS-CoV-2, was then isolated and the evidence of human-to-human transmission was declared by the WHO mission to China more than 20 days after the alert. On March 11, 2020: the WHO made the assessment that the disease, called COVID-19, can be characterized as a pandemic. Almost all the countries of the world have responded to this disease using a measure, unknown until then in medicine and which constitutes a first in the history of humanity: the confinement (called also: lockdown). In this article, we will know if there is scientific evidences that this intervention is effective in decreasing the number of cases and deaths, allowing to spread them over time and avoiding saturation of the clinical services, especially intensive care units (ICU). Two examples of studies to know if the confinement is effective or not will be exposed. We will, also, talk about the balance benefit-risk of the confinement. This article will propose measures to avoid saturation of hospitals and to manage this pandemic as well as possible and will also specify, for the first time in a scientific publication dealing with this subject, the exact reason which pushed the world to adopt the confinement. The many experts, including some of international renown, who have gave their opinions on the confinement will be cited juste before concluding this article.