A village in the Ecrins massif, in the Hautes-Alpes.

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Philippe Desmazes

  • The Hautes-Alpes department initially only had 8 intensive care beds for 140,000 inhabitants.

  • In recent weeks, public hospitals have been forced to expand their reception capacities.

  • For the moment, health authorities and communities do not explain this record increase in contamination.

When the curfew was announced on October 22, the president of the Hautes-Alpes department told 20 Minutes to consider this measure "essential".

From this period, the elected (DVD) Jean-Marie Bernard explained "carefully follow the evolution of the epidemic" which was then "bad".

Three weeks and a national confinement later, all the indicators have deteriorated further, and the figures communicated by the authorities exceed new records every day in a territory which is however sparsely populated.

In the weekly update of November 10 from the ARS (regional health agency) Paca, the Hautes-Alpes recorded the highest incidence rate in the region.

For 100,000 inhabitants of Gap, Briançon, Embrun or the surrounding villages, there are now 674 new contaminations per week.

In the Bouches-du-Rhône, this figure is close to the national average with 486 contaminations per 100,000 inhabitants.

But unlike the department that is home to the Marseille metropolis, the Hautes-Alpes does not have more than 25 inhabitants per square kilometer, spread over small and medium-sized mountain towns.

Triple the places in intensive care

From mid-October, the situation forced the hospital services to rapidly and drastically increase their reception capacities.

“During the first wave, public hospitals recorded 55 hospitalizations.

Since mid-October, we are already at 125 entries.

The situation continues to deteriorate and has nothing to do with what we experienced in the spring ”analyzes Jean-Michel Orsatelli, deputy director of Chicas (Center hospitalier intercommunal des Alpes du Sud).

In order to accommodate Covid-19 patients, the various establishments have really had to push the walls: with 8 resuscitation beds, all grouped together in Gap, the department has expanded its capacities to 29 places.

An urgent and "necessary" maneuver, according to Jean-Michel Orsatelli, since 21 beds are already occupied.

And since it is vital to always keep a margin of available beds, several patients have been transferred in recent days to the Alpes-Maritimes, subject to slightly lower hospital pressure.

At the same time as these transfers, all non-urgent operations have been deprogrammed.

Border region and clusters

Is the progression of the epidemic in the Hautes-Alpes due to the outbreak which affects Savoie, a neighboring department and today the focus of the epidemic?

"We have also had a large number of clusters, in particular in medical facilities but also in sports halls, slaughterhouses ... In reality, we do not have the precise reason that led to the current situation". Jean-Michel Orsatelli.

According to ARS Paca, 43 clusters have been identified in the department.

Contacted, the prefect of Hautes-Alpes Martine Clavel explains for her that "most contaminations arise in the family, friendly or even professional world", without being able to provide further explanations.

In the north of the department in Briançon, the mayor (LR) Arnaud Murgia describes a "paradox".

Often questioned in recent days on different hypotheses, he explains that he does not know what to answer: “what remains astonishing is that we were less affected by the first wave when it happened just after the ski season, and that we were 12 kilometers from the most affected country in Europe, Italy.

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To the village

The figures for this town of 20,000 inhabitants are today without comparison with those of the spring.

Between March and June, there were 20 deaths from all causes.

Over the last three weeks, the funeral directors have counted 35. The epidemic does not spare the villages either, as reported by La Provence from the small town of Sorbiers near the Drôme, which has 14 patients out of its 50 inhabitants ... .

From north to south of the Hautes-Alpes department, the outbreak of the epidemic raises the question of hospital reception capacity.

Today pushed to its limits, will it be able to be maintained at this level in the long term?

The example of Briançon is particularly glaring: in 2016, the city's intensive care unit had completely closed, not without protests from the staff.

In recent weeks, 8 beds have been reopened there.

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