Strasbourg (AFP)

With four deaths last weekend, doctors in eastern France are paying a heavy price for the coronavirus epidemic which had already claimed the life of an emergency physician in the Oise department.

"Front line infantrymen" in the war against the coronavirus, the doctors exercise their profession "at their own risk and peril, as we see unfortunately", noted Monday with bitterness the union of general practitioners MG France, the day after this weekend particularly gloomy for those who constitute "the first resort for many patients".

After the announcement Sunday of the death of an emergency doctor in Compiègne (Oise) - the first doctor victim of Covid-19 in France -, the deaths of four general practitioners also struck down this weekend by this pulmonary virus, were thus made public on Monday .

- Black sequence -

A real black series, while all were exercising in eastern France, an area particularly affected by the epidemic: according to the latest figures published Monday evening by the Regional Health Agency (ARS), 2,348 people infected with the virus are hospitalized in the Great East, where 335 deaths were counted.

Two of the Covid-19 victim doctors were practicing in the Haut-Rhin, one of the main sources of contamination since a large religious gathering in late February, several of whose faithful, infected with the virus, had then spread the disease across France and up to 'in Guyana.

Jean-Marie Boegle, a 66-year-old obstetrician-gynecologist who died on Saturday, was working in a clinic in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) and, according to the establishment, had contracted the virus from one of his patients.

A 70-year-old generalist, Mahen Ramloll, meanwhile, died on Sunday in Colmar hospital after having, according to regional press, confided to a colleague that he had been in contact with infected patients.

In Moselle, Sylvain Welling, a 60-year-old general practitioner in the commune of L'Hôpital, died in Saint-Avold where he had been hospitalized in the Covid-19 unit.

Finally, Olivier-Jacques Schneller, 68, died this weekend at the Trévenans hospital (Territoire-de-Belfort), according to Jean-Denis Perret-Gentil, the mayor of Couthenans, a commune in Haute- Saône where he owned his office. "He was positive for the coronavirus," he said.

Very exposed because of their daily proximity since the beginning of the epidemic with patients potentially carrying the virus, the generalists feared to pay the price and did not stop denouncing the lack of equipment (masks, gowns ...) protection.

Many initiatives have flourished to help doctors cope, such as the donation of masks from individuals or businesses. The president of the Grand Est region, Jean Rottner, for example launched last Thursday a call for donations of masks for hospital staff and general practitioners.

Not sure, however, that this is enough in the eyes of MG France, while the distribution of masks by pharmacies is limited to 18 per week for doctors and nurses.

- Contamination -

"The absence of protective equipment will (...) contaminate a certain number" of doctors, warned MG France.

"All over France, general practitioners are organizing themselves, within their cabinet, on their territory, to deal with this epidemic", still insists the union, which hails their "constant work" and their "fighting spirit which will indisputably save lives ".

"The role of general practitioners is essential so that hospital professionals can focus all their efforts on the most serious patients", notes the College of General Medicine.

"Despite the risks and their consequences, we will continue to assume our responsibilities", continues this association which brings together unions and learned societies of general practitioners. "State services" must give generalists "the means" necessary, she insists.

© 2020 AFP