The intensive care unit of the Purpan hospital, in Toulouse, on April 21, 2020. - Frédéric Scheiber / 20 Minutes

  • The Toulouse University Hospital welcomed 71 coronavirus patients this Friday, including 20 in intensive care and two in intensive care.
  • Covid-19 activity is steadily declining in the Purpan and Rangueil hospitals.
  • The power of a possible second wave remains an unknown.

The figures speak for themselves: according to the Toulouse University Hospital, 71 coronavirus patients are hospitalized this Friday (including 20 in intensive care and two in intensive care), against 113 a week earlier. "Covid-19 activity continues to decrease slowly but with certainty," says Marc Penaud, Director General of the CHU.

Rangueil and Purpan hospitals have recorded 26 deaths from this disease since the start of an epidemic that has relatively spared the region. “We continue to have new cases, but in a very different configuration from the wave of a month ago. "

Weekly press conference # Covid_19 at the CHU de #Toulouse: 71 Covid + patients including 20 in intensive care and 2 in intensive care - a slow but continuous decrease - but there are always some new cases # StayHomeY # coronavirus # COVID19france # COVID19 pic. twitter.com/lKvs8KtVMQ

- CHU de Toulouse (@CHUdeToulouse) April 24, 2020

Who are these patients who are still arriving, as long after the confinement began on March 17? "These are the same profiles as before, but we have trouble determining where their contamination comes from," admits Vincent Bounes, director of Samu de la Haute-Garonne. They are often people of around 55-60 years old, who have respected confinement rather well. There are a few security guards, gendarmes among them, but no carers. "

In intensive care, "two thirds of patients are overweight," adds Béatrice Riu-Poulenc, head of the intensive care department at Purpan. They are often moderate, not morbid obesities. In other words, people whose body mass index is greater than 30, but less than 40.

Deconfinement does not mean return to normal

The situation in Toulouse hospitals is improving, patients transferred from the Grand-Est have been returning home since last week, but one (huge) unknown remains: what about after May 11? Doctors insist: deconfinement does not mean returning to normal, and maintaining barrier gestures will remain essential.

"We do not know what will be the model of the kinetics of the second wave," confesses Marc Penaud. Tsunami? Vaguelette? Something in between? Impossible to say today. For the moment, all pathologies combined, 109 intensive care beds are occupied in Toulouse hospitals, which can unlock up to 195 beds in this exceptional period. Usually there are 80.

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  • Containment
  • Covid 19
  • Deconfinement
  • epidemic
  • Toulouse
  • Coronavirus