The amphibious helicopter carrier (PHA) Tonnerre of the national navy will be sent to Ajaccio this weekend for "the medical evacuation of patients with Covid-19" to establishments in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, a announced the prefecture of Corsica.
This measure taken by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron "aims to relieve the resuscitation service at the Ajaccio hospital center in order to anticipate the hospital's response to the hospitalization needs of the most serious patients", specifies Prefecture.
Towards hospitals on the Côte d'Azur
"It will come into action a priori Sunday and will transfer between 12 and 14 patients in intensive care to hospitals on the Côte d'Azur," said AFP Corsican prefect Franck Robine.
“We are really anticipating. We are anticipating a wave of increases in the number of coronavirus cases by the end of this week or the beginning of the next, "he added.
Seven dead
Corsica, which has 340,000 inhabitants, 90,000 of whom are over 60 years old, had 164 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Thursday, according to the local health authorities. Seven people have been killed there so far. "We have a very high concentration in Ajaccio with 138 cases," said the prefect.
"We currently have 15 resuscitation beds in Ajaccio and we will have 26 this weekend thanks to the sending of equipment and the fitting out of the hospital," said the prefect of Corsica, adding that there were "21 resuscitation beds in Bastia".
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