INTERVIEW
In eastern France, hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of patients infected with the coronavirus and "waves" are beginning to arrive in the Paris region and in Corsica. On Sunday, the Minister of Health announced that a first caregiver had died after contracting the coronavirus. "We know that the nursing staff will be on the front line," said Etienne Fourquet, vice-president of the national union of anesthetists resuscitators of France, invited Sunday on Europe 1.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Sunday March 22
"We are a population at risk: the average age of practitioners is over 50." Etienne Fourquet expresses his concern, recalling that certain studies carried out in China estimate at 40% the share of the medical personnel brought to contract the virus while providing care.
Lack of equipment and risky behavior
Two main problems arise for doctors. They fear first the lack of material means, symbolized by the weakness of the current stocks of masks: "We will be able to ensure the first wave, [but] we do not know if we will be resupplied with sufficient equipment to last the distance . " The vice president of Snarf adds that all requests were made by caregivers.
>> READ ALSO - Coronavirus: after confinement, "we can expect the epidemic to start again"
Endorsing President Emmanuel Macron's parallel with the current epidemic as a war, Etienne Fourquet says he fears being sent "as in 1914" to the operating field with "red pants" making him an easy target for the 'enemy.
The doctor is also alarmed by the not very cautious behavior of the population: "We will take care of patients who potentially have not respected the safety instructions." He thus appealed to "individual responsibility" so as not to "add to" the risk already existing.