Diane Berger, edited by Manon Fossat 6:59 p.m., August 20, 2021
The airlift set up to relieve the West Indian hospitals has already materialized by two movements: 240 doctors, nurses and orderlies left on August 10, then around 120 last Tuesday, still "fairly distributed" between Guadeloupe and Martinique.
More than 300 health professionals flew from Paris Orly airport this Friday afternoon to Martinique and Guadeloupe, whose hospitals are saturated with Covid-19 cases.
With incidence rates between five and ten times higher than those in the metropolis and an excess of mortality in overcrowded establishments, the teams on site need help.
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"Might as well try to lend a hand"
Hugo Thomas is a physiotherapist.
He comes from Normandy and is one of the caregivers sent to the West Indies.
And even if he is aware of the gravity of the situation on the spot, he apprehends the next two weeks very calmly.
"I am not one of the people at risk so I am not worried personally. We will then see how we manage to manage patients and all our tasks because we do not yet know what functions we will have", explains- he.
"I am a physiotherapist so I will possibly be in the intensive care unit", continues the young man.
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For him, if the West Indies have called on metropolitan staff, it is because the context there is really delicate. "They really need help. There is demand everywhere so you might as well try to lend a hand," he concluded, hoping that the situation does not deteriorate also in metropolitan France.