- Nearly 300 French and foreign nationals from the Wuhan region fled the coronavirus epidemic in China.
- These people were placed in quarantine in Aix-en-Provence and Carry-le-Rouet, in Bouches-du-Rhône.
- The department indeed includes important empty premises, an air base, but also and above all a healthcare structure specialized in infectious diseases.
No less than 300 people were placed in quarantine in a few days, in two specially requisitioned centers in the department. The Bouches-du-Rhône seems to have been chosen by the authorities to be the place of repatriation and surveillance of French and foreign nationals who fled the region of Wuhan, in China, because of the epidemic of coronavirus which affects the sector .
Two sites have been set up for these nationals, one in Carry-le-Rouet, in a holiday center, the other within the national higher school of fire brigade officers (Ensosps) in Aix-en- Provence. And everywhere, among local residents, among Bucco-Rhodanians, and on social networks, comes up this age-old question: but why here? Why the Bouches-du-Rhône? 20 Minutes takes stock.
A state-of-the-art health center
According to several sources interviewed by 20 Minutes, one of the key points that caught the attention of the authorities is the presence, in Marseille, of a recent medical center and at the forefront of the treatment of infectious and tropical diseases, unique in its kind not only in France, but in Europe. Open at the end of 2016, the Institut hospitalo-universitaire (IHU) Méditerranée employs no less than 750 people who specialize in these issues, and are particularly capable of reacting to avoid any contagion.
The 27,000 m2 building on four levels, located on the Timone site, includes diagnostic and research laboratories, but also, and above all, on the third floor, "twenty-five beds divided into three modules that can be completely isolated ", According to a spokesperson for the IHU. "Thanks to a negative pressure system, when you open a door, the air comes in but doesn't come out," says the same source. This prevents any air flow. The air, on the other hand, is sucked in specific conduits to be then treated. It is therefore towards this center that, when he got off the plane on Sunday, a person with symptoms of coronavirus was transferred to the IHU in emergency, and should leave the hospital this Monday, according to a statement from the prefecture. As a reminder, for the time being, none of the returnees has been infected with the coronavirus.
Empty premises, in large numbers and nearby
When organizing the repatriation of these French nationals, the question first arose of their transportation. Quickly, the government sought to land the military A380 chartered for the occasion on one of its adapted air bases. However, the air base of Istres met its criteria.
But it was also, and above all, necessary to find suitable structures to place these nationals in quarantine. However, contrary to what has been practiced in other European countries, the State refused to stay in hospitals on the grounds, among other things, that they were not diagnosed as sick. "We needed empty places available, with a large number of individual rooms, and near the hospital," says the prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône. They therefore thought of the holiday centers, much more numerous with us, and at the moment empty. "
"The Bouches-du-Rhône were chosen because they were an ideal place," adds the Directorate General for Health. It was a crossroads that met specifications, with empty spaces and able to accommodate families near a hospital center. "
An organization already in place in Carry
The care of these hundreds of returnees required the mobilization of reservist teams of doctors, nurses and rescuers of the Red Cross of the department who provide their care. An important organization to set up, initiated when the first nationals arrived in Carry-le-Rouet, and which it seems, for practical reasons, easier to reproduce in nearby centers, as is the case. 'Ensops. "In this kind of situation, it is simpler to put places of care nearby, rather than to deal with two groups geographically opposite in France," says the Directorate General of Health.
Indeed, Ensops is located 38 kilometers from the IHU and 35 kilometers from the Carry-le-Rouet holiday center. The school currently accommodates 79 nationals, including 19 French, according to a press release from the prefecture. However, the premises can accommodate more than 500 people, so that many places remain empty at the time of writing.
Does this mean that the number of returnees received in the department could increase, with, for example, French nationals from China established outside the Wuhan region? "For the moment, no, these are the instructions, but, if they evolve, we will evolve with them," says one from the side of the Directorate General of Health. I cannot confirm or deny that this quarantine procedure will soon be applied to all French nationals from China. "
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