The city of Marseille holds the record for metropolitan France for the highest incidence rate of the disease, at 281 cases per 100,000 according to health authorities.

Invited from Europe 1 on Saturday, the deputy director of ARS PACA, Sébastien Debeaumont, said that the situation of hospitals was currently "tense".

INTERVIEW

It is still in Marseille that the incidence rate of Covid-19 is the highest.

In the Marseille city, placed on maximum alert on Wednesday, there are 281 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

"At the end of last week, the evolution of the incidence rate was on hold, for the first time in weeks. However, the indicators remain very degraded, and well above the national average or that of the other affected territories" , explains Sébastien Debeaumont, deputy director of ARS PACA, guest of Europe 1 on Saturday.

>> LIVE -

 Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Saturday, September 26

As elsewhere in France, the number of contaminations recorded in the region skyrocketed during the summer, the disease first affecting 20-40 year olds and then the elderly in a second time.

"Today, the increase in the incidence rate among the older age groups is increasing week by week," says Sébastien Debeaumont.

As seniors represent the majority of severe cases, hospitals now fear the point of saturation.

40% of intensive care beds are occupied by "Covid patients"

"We can speak of a tense situation in hospitals. The number of patients is only growing every week," said the deputy director of the ARS.

According to him, 40% of intensive care beds are now occupied by "Covid patients".

The health authorities had set the alert threshold at 30%.

CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS

> Coronavirus screening: second wave, second failure

> When are we in contact?

And other questions that we ask ourselves every day

> What are "antigenic" tests, now authorized by the government?

> Coronavirus: the 5 mistakes not to make with your mask

> Coronavirus: from what age should you have your child tested?

"We must not oppose each other. The responsibility is collective and shared", he recalls before adding: "We are going to live sustainably with the Covid, that is not why it you don't have to live. But you have to adapt to this threat. "

The best way to achieve this, he says, is to scrupulously respect barrier gestures, in the public sphere as in the private sphere.