For Karine Lacombe, the curfew and the containment against the coronavirus already seem to have a small effect on hospitalizations in her infectious diseases department, at Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris.

The researcher, who evokes a "very strong influx" in intensive care, nevertheless wants to be very careful.

ANALYSIS

How far will the second wave of coronavirus go up in France?

While the government first decreed a territorial curfew before deciding on a generalized reconfinement, epidemic indicators remain extremely degraded at the national level.

Karine Lacombe, head of the infectious diseases department at Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris, nevertheless believes on Europe 1, Thursday, that the hospitalization situation is tending to stabilize.

However, it remains extremely cautious about the evolution of the epidemic. 

"Quivering"

At present, nearly a week after the entry into force of the reconfinement, "the influx is very strong in intensive care and we are really on an extremely fast upward slope," says the researcher and infectious disease specialist.

Thursday noon, 21 beds were occupied by patients with serious complications related to the coronavirus, or half of its intensive care unit. 

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But if the Saint-Antoine hospital has seen in recent weeks "a lot of cases arriving very quickly in medicine", "we have the impression that the rise is, perhaps, settling down a little bit", advance Karine Lacombe, who is keen to remain measured: "We should not have excessive hope, but with the measures taken, the curfew and confinement, we will perhaps feel a shudder. It really needs to be confirmed over the next two weeks. "

Better preparation for the second wave

Other "good" news: Karine Lacombe affirms that her service has so far not had to resort to sorting patients, so dreaded by professionals: "We have deprogrammed hospitalizations that were scheduled for chronic pathologies and that we We will be able to see a little later. So far, we haven't fired anyone with an acute illness. That's all the fear we had. "

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This fear justified the anticipated preparation of its entire department: "We mobilized very early with plans to ramp up, the increase in the number of beds and the mobilization of staff. This puts us in a very different situation from what happened during the first wave ", welcomes Karine Lacombe.

"The spirit of the teams is prepared, because we knew what was going to happen. It's not like in March-April, when we really took the tsunami in the face and we had to improvise. Likewise, "we treat better, we have reduced mortality and length of stay," she adds.

>> Find here the full interview of Karine Lacombe with Patrick Cohen: