"There is a very strong acceleration, at the same time of contaminations and entries in intensive care" in Île-de-France, indicated the director of the Regional Health Agency Aurélien Rousseau, Sunday noon on Europe 1. According to him, several hospitals in the region have seen waves of coronavirus patients arrive in the last hours. 

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"We were on average 35 entries per day in intensive care units in Île-de-France until Wednesday. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we had about 90 entries", illustrates Aurélien Rousseau.

Invited from Europe at noon, Sunday, the director of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) announces the "very strong acceleration" of the second wave of coronavirus in the Paris region.

"As I speak to you, 67% of our resuscitation beds are occupied by Covid patients," he says. 

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"Our responsibility is to anticipate all hypotheses"

According to the director of ARS Île-de-France, "a few establishments" in the region have also "faced sudden arrivals" of a large number of patients, "with ripple effects" in recent hours, in particular the private hospital of Antony, in the Hauts-de-Seine, and the hospital of Versailles.

In a week, the occupancy rate of intensive care units should "be around 90%" in the region, according to Aurélien Rousseau. 

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"What we are scrutinizing with a lot of attention and a little anxiety, are the results of the contaminations that we will see on Tuesday or Wednesday, which should reflect the impact of the curfew put in place in Île-de-France eight days ago now, ”the official continued.

"The strength of the epidemic dynamic is such that one can wonder if that will be enough", he fears.

But "the political authorities will be in a position to take the decisions. Our responsibility is to anticipate all the hypotheses, that of the degradation as well."

A hospital system "under incredible strain"

Because in Île-de-France, "the health system is both more ready than last March, because there are elements that we did not have, such as masks, respirators, drugs , but it is also under an incredible tension, because the caregivers have already lived several months of crisis ", warns Aurélien Rousseau.

"It is our collective responsibility to protect them from a massive influx."

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"We are in a long-distance race, we have several months ahead of us," he insists.

"Obviously it's heavy, sometimes discouraging. But the most discouraging would be if we couldn't manage to cope, to take care of all the patients who need it."