Coronavirus: the transfer of patients from overseas to neighboring countries "not planned to date", according to Véran - France 24

Paris (AFP)

The question of the transfer of patients with covid-19 from overseas to neighboring countries "is not planned to date", said Friday the Minister of Health Olivier Veran, but "all possible cooperation agreements" are being considered.

Questioned, with the Minister of Overseas Annick Girardin during a live Facebook dedicated to Overseas, the Minister of Health recalled that two helicopter carriers were coming, one off the Antilles-Guyana, and the other near Mayotte and Reunion, to help these territories in the fight against the coronavirus.

"If we arrive at a situation of very strong mobilization of the resuscitation services, we provide + evasan + devices (medical evacuations) when possible", he explained, notably for example for patients from the islands from Saint-Barth or Saint-Martin, which could be evacuated to Guadeloupe.

For Guyana, whose number of beds in intensive care has been increased from 29 to 40, the helicopter carrier "will make it possible to relieve the medical teams at the hospital by admitting on board a certain number of patients" but "not patients covid-19 ", he said.

This will free up more places "at the hospital," to increase its capacity, "he said.

"The question of the transfer of patients to neighboring countries (as the Hexagon did with Germany for example, note) is not planned to date," he said.

But "we are in constant permanent contact with all the countries neighboring the overseas territories," he insisted, recalling having participated Friday morning in a G7 of health ministers, "where we are considering all cooperation agreements. possible ".

"The resources are made available overseas," he said, saying that for example "in Reunion there are more intensive care beds per inhabitant than on the whole of the metropolis on average".

Finally, he explained, that contrary to a rumor spread in Overseas, the virus does not seem to be stopped by the heat, recalling that the virus had hit "countries (Iran, Brazil) where the heat is important" and that 'he also seems to "appreciate the humidity".

© 2020 AFP