Cayenne (AFP)
Human and material reinforcements will be implemented in Guyana, facing the coronavirus epidemic which "worsens", announced Tuesday the Minister of Overseas Annick Girardin, traveling in this overseas territory .
"The State will be there" in the face of a situation which "is worsening", said the minister to the press, during a 24-hour visit to Guyana, a territory of 300,000 inhabitants maintained under state of health emergency.
Overseas Minister Annick Girardin announced Tuesday the arrival of reinforcements from the Sanitary Reserve and public assistance of Paris hospitals (AP-HP), 15 respirators, equipment from the projectable field hospital of French civil security (Escrim) for non-covid patients as well as the provision of dexamethasone, a treatment which would reduce mortality by a third in the most seriously ill patients.
A "support plan to help Brazil", the maintenance of food distributions and aid to the economic and social sectors are also mentioned.
The regional health agency (ARS) on Tuesday counted 2,593 confirmed cases, 8 deaths and 15 patients in intensive care.
"We will very quickly arrive at 10,000 cases," warned Rodolphe Alexandre, the president of the territorial community of Guyana, to AFP.
"We must expect a saturation of the hospital system," warned for his part Mathieu Raux, medical director of the Covid crisis at Pitié-Salpêtrière, sent to reinforce Cayenne by Matignon, in the letter d daily information from ARS Guyana released on Tuesday.
"We found extremely tired staff" "and there, we ask them to speed up," also commented Mr. Raux.
The breakthrough of the virus comes in full "collective weariness", according to the prefect of Guyana, due in particular to "more stringent measures than in France" (curfew, confinement on weekends, closing shops at 6pm) a also mentioned the prefect.
Asked about a possible restructuring, controversial, mentioned on Sunday by Matignon, the minister did not wish to decide.
"Today it closes and it fires serious," warned Carine Sinaï-Bossou, president of the chamber of commerce and industry.
"Asking us more is collective suicide," she said.
Annick Girardin formalized Tuesday the "crisis management committee" which brings together the institutions, elected officials and the voluntary sector. It will test Wednesday in Saint-Laurent du Maroni the "surveillance device" on the border with Suriname.
© 2020 AFP