As the second epidemic wave sweeps over the country, several towns in the Loire, faced with an influx of patients, are demanding the installation of a field hospital in the Gier valley.
The army had already been mobilized against the Covid-19 in March, in the Grand Est.
The second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic is now affecting the whole of France.
Pressure is mounting on regions that had been spared in March, to the point that some mayors in the Loire, near Saint-Étienne, are calling on the army to build a field hospital.
"It's heartbreaking to get there," cowardly at the microphone of Europe 1 Régis Cadegros, first deputy mayor of Saint-Chamond and chairman of the supervisory board of the Center hospitalier du Gier.
>> LIVE
- Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Sunday, October 25
"If the evolution persists this way, it will be difficult to take care of all our patients," he explains.
Some towns in the Gier valley are among the most affected in France.
In one week, the number of serious cases treated in the local hospital increased from 50 to 130. A shock difficult to absorb for this very rural area.
Lack of human resources
Régis Cadegros also explains that he is faced with a staffing problem in hospital services: "Our caregivers are contaminated and others are unfortunately overbooked," he laments.
"If we don't have additional resources, we will have to make choices about the patients who come to us, because we won't be able to take care of everyone."
>> Find the mid-day weekend podcast and replay here
The elected officials of the 21 municipalities concerned now want the intervention of the army as in March in the Grand Est, in Mulhouse.
At the time, 30 beds could be installed in a field hospital for two months.
In general, Régis Cadegros hopes for the arrival of caregivers as reinforcements, including civilians who could volunteer.