Deconfinement: how is the isolation of patients in hotels organized?

Audio 4:40

By: Anthony Lattier Follow

"Protect, test, isolate": this is the strategy of the French government during the deconfinement that will begin in a week. To "isolate", that is to say quarantine the people who test positive for Covid-19, the State can requisition places like hotels. This system is already a reality in several cities that have been pioneers.

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How is the isolation of patients in hotels organized ?

To find out, I went to a hotel requisitioned for more than a month, in Perpignan in the south of France. It is the very first “hotel-Covid” in the country (as they are called). When I was there, there were 7 patients. Where do they come from ?

Listen to Samuel Durod, the doctor who examines them every morning: "  Either coronavirus centers in the cities, or the hospital, they do not have serious symptoms, they come to quarantine here.  "

The objective is twofold: to free up hospital beds by isolating the less serious cases elsewhere and to prevent contamination of relatives of the sick.

There are many poor families in Perpignan living in the city center who cannot afford to be confined to their homes. This is what prompted the prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales, Philippe Chopin, to requisition this hotel very early on: “ there was a cluster, in neighborhoods where people live Catalan-style, at night, with poor sanitary conditions.  "

How long do these people stay confined ?

"  It depends on the case !"  Explains the prefect.

The patients I met told me that they were relieved to have been able to stay here rather than at home, and thus to have protected their families.

In one month, more than forty people stayed at this hotel.

They pass the time in simple rooms with one or two beds and a small bathroom. They are allowed to go outside to stretch their legs on the balconies and the parking lot. The State pays for the room (35 euros) as well as the meals, which are served by volunteer rescuers. They are the ones who take care of the logistics under the supervision of Nicolas Montserrat: “  We take care of the distribution of meals, health surveillance, psychological support, general organization.  "

Other French cities did not wait for deconfinement to set up this type of device.

Yes like in Poitiers or Calvi. But also, for 10 days, in Ile-de-France. A system is being tested with four hospitals: people who show symptoms are first tested, then asked about the conditions in which they live, as detailed by the president of the Seine Saint Denis department Stéphane Troussel: "  we are conducting an investigation Oral and we can also go to the patient's home to assess if confinement is possible. If not possible, we suggest the hotel.  "

The sick are quarantined in a hotel in Porte-la-Chapelle in Paris, where 200 places have been reserved. Two other hotels are being opened.

And with a view to deconfinement, hotels throughout France could be requisitioned.

Jean-Virgile Crance, President of the national group of hotel chains, ensures that the sector is ready to mobilize: “  The sector is at a standstill. We promised 40,000 rooms owed 1,000 hotels to the government. We are ready to meet the demand.  "

Elsewhere in the world, isolation in hotels is practiced in Italy and Spain, but also in South Korea, China, Tunisia and even Israel.

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