- So far, less than 500 cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in overseas France.
- But the concern is there while these territories are often much less well endowed than European hospitals.
- The military operation Résilience, announced by Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, includes a section devoted to overseas.
The various overseas communities are now approaching the milestone of 500 confirmed cases of coronavirus. It is relatively little, none is still in stage 3, as is the case in Europe. However, hospital capacities are also less significant. 20 Minutes explored the challenges.
What is the health situation in the overseas territories?
The concern is particularly strong in Reunion and Mayotte, passed to stage 2 of the epidemic Tuesday, while the other Overseas are still in stage 1 and the metropolis already in stage 3. These distant territories are therefore "in delay ”on the evolution of the epidemic. "A little like the hexagonal France vis-à-vis Italy", explains to 20 Minutes the ministry in charge of overseas. During a videoconference with the overseas prefects, the president of the scientific council, Jean-François Delfraissy warned that it was necessary "to take advantage of the time ahead of the epidemic to accentuate the braking and slow down the epidemic". Because, even more than in European France, exceeding the capacity of local hospitals, which are often more fragile, would be catastrophic.
In detail, Reunion has 135 cases Thursday, often "imported" from mainland France. The territory of nearly 860,000 inhabitants can rely on 112 intensive care beds. Faced with the failing hospital system of neighboring islands, Madagascar, the Comoros and even Mayotte, the only possible medical evacuation should be to France, 10 hours by plane. Hence the fear of much higher death rates than in Europe. Overall, "due to the insularity or the distance, medical evacuations take more time and are more complicated, but not unthinkable," said the French overseas ministry, which also indicates that measures have been taken by Overseas ARS, like the ARS in France, to increase health care capacities at the local level.
Mayotte, with 50 cases on Thursday, expects the worst. "It is not a wave expected, it is a tsunami," alerted MP LR Mansour Kamardine via AFP. The island is three times less endowed with a intensive care unit than La Réunion, compared to its population: only 16 beds exist. As for the American territories, Martinique and Guadeloupe, with predominantly elderly populations, each deplore their first death from Covid-19. Guadeloupe and the northern islands currently have 100 known cases. Delphine Roux, liberal nurse in Sainte-Anne, explains to AFP that “anxiety is mounting. (…). We no longer have an FFP2 mask, no more gowns. "
In Martinique, where 80 cases are recorded, "the health situation was already tense before the arrival of Covid-19, which makes the island all the more destitute in the face of the care of serious cases", because "the the number of beds in intensive care is far below the national average, ”says a group of hospital staff at AFP. Several doctors are calling for Cuban doctors to come. Guyana, which currently has 31 cases, has 11 to 13 intensive care beds at the hospital in Cayenne, according to the UTG health union, double, according to hospital sources, for 290,000 inhabitants.
What is the “Resilience” operation?
It is a military operation announced by Emmanuel Macron during his speech from Mulhouse, Wednesday evening. In fact, this system aims to coordinate military actions in favor of the fight against the epidemic throughout the national territory. In this context, for example, transfers of patients from overcrowded regions to others, less strained. To help the overseas populations, two amphibious helicopter carriers (PHA) will be deployed respectively to Reunion Island and in the Antilles / Guyana area.
This deployment is variously appreciated. In Mayotte, the deputy LR Mansour Kamardine, who has been demanding for several days the dispatch of an army helicopter carrier with its hospital capacities, "takes note of an early response from the government", which "will require be clarified and completed ”. In Guadeloupe, the president of the department Josette Borel-Lincertin (PS) underlines to AFP that “any exceptional measure is good in an exceptional situation. But for my part, I remain first on the urgent needs of Guadeloupe: 20 respirators, regular and volume supplies of masks and reagents to intensify the tests. All as soon as possible. "
Same observation in Martinique: for the deputy (related PS) Josette Manin, contacted by AFP, "the dispatching of these devices seems to me to correspond to a lack of knowledge of these overseas territories and their extent. "
Beyond the Coronavirus, Other Problems Worsen
As elsewhere, the fear of the populations also goes towards the economic crisis which accompanies the health crisis. Thus, the coronavirus epidemic makes even more vulnerable territories already in lack of means or very dependent on a sector of activity. The ministry is also "looking at how to ensure that containment will not kill these more fragile economies". Specific measures in relation to France, in addition to those which apply nationally, could be put in place. The ministry welcomes the complementary initiatives already taken by the communities.
Under the dependent regions of a sector, we find the Antilles or Polynesia, with tourism, at a standstill. The UN forecasts an overall decline in 2020 of 20 to 30% of tourist activity. New Caledonia, for its part, finds a large part of its wealth in the exploitation of nickel from its soil. Trade is very disrupted by the epidemic and La 1ère tells us that if prices have not fallen too much for the moment, it is thanks to a reduction in the production of Caledonian extractors. In Reunion, hospitals are not only facing Covid-19, but also an epidemic of dengue, which adds to the overheating.
Worse still, Guadeloupe is currently experiencing a very complicated situation in terms of drinking water. The very old and poorly maintained network means that, according to the ARS, cited by Le Parisien , 62% of the drinking water produced is lost. A catastrophic figure that requires cuts for sometimes whole days. A disaster for hospitals, of course, but also for individuals. It is indeed difficult to apply basic barrier gestures without water and in times of shortage of hydroalcoholic gel. To alleviate the problem a little, cisterns of non-potable water were put in place.
Finally, during the strikes against the pension reform, certain overseas territories had suffered from shortages, particularly in food. While France is idling for several more weeks, the risk of such a shortage worries. The overseas ministry reminds on this subject that "the Prime Minister spoke in the National Assembly to ensure that national solidarity was acquired overseas". The state therefore promises to be there.
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- Containment
- Coronavirus
- Covid 19
- Health
- epidemic
- Overseas