Valenciennes (AFP)
In the streets of Valenciennes (North), two marauders find Svetlana and her companion, who have been sleeping outside for several weeks: that evening, the young woman presents some symptoms that may be reminiscent of Covid-19.
The next day, she will do the test, thanks to the "relationship of trust" with the care team.
Three times a week, two nurses from the hospital, trained in patrolling, and a member of an association that manages accommodation structures go to meet the homeless in the city.
To spend a little time with them, to give food and to warm up, but also to look after them.
"Our primary goal is to bring the population in a very precarious situation back to care, through this presence, this marauding, by creating a relationship of trust", underlines Frédéric Bourse, nurse.
- "We do not see anyone" -
With his partner and a member of the Red Cross, that evening they found a young man suffering from serious pathologies, weighing less than 30 kg, who was sleeping in a car loaned by a private individual.
A place awaits him at last in a reception structure.
A few kilometers away, isolated at the end of a station parking lot, four friends aged 19 to 26, who have known each other for several months, live together in a car.
And do not want to separate.
On the roof of the vehicle, is placed a pot of hydroalcoholic gel;
on the ground, spread out on a blanket on the ground, a few packets of cakes, two bottles of syrup, a pack of water, empty yogurts.
"If we catch the covid, all four of us have it, that's for sure, but at the same time we don't see anyone, except a few people who come to help us", says Quentin, alongside Léa, trembling with cold. .
"But we have no choice, we are not going to give up one because he has the covid. Being four is a strength, alone it would be harder to survive".
Then the marauding finds Svetlana, pregnant, and her boyfriend who sleep from building lobby to building lobby.
"The covid, we do with it. Today, we had 50 cents," she says.
- "The basis: consent" -
In addition to the meal, nurse Adeline Ciszewski, who has been following her for several weeks, provides her with boxes of vitamins for her pregnancy, a prescription, reminds her of her various appointments.
And offers him screening for the coronavirus.
"I detected signs that could make one think of Covid (...) They would not appear spontaneously in a center, so we are going to them so that they can access the same services", underlines the caregiver.
The next day, the young couple arrived at the meeting as agreed, in an annex of the hospital, where the marauding nurses themselves carried out the tests with the homeless who accepted it.
"When we do the screening, we explain the interest to them. The very basis is consent. We do not provide treatment without consent, it is mandatory," insists Mr. Bourse.
The boyfriend, who wants to remain anonymous, says he is reassured to have taken the nasopharyngeal swab, but does not think he is contaminated anyway, since he has, among other things, "not lost his sense of smell".
For the past two months, the teams have also been traveling once a week to the various accommodation centers, where they test an average of six to seven people, whom they have already met.
And if the screening is positive, the sick person is supposed to benefit from a place to be "isolated".
Since mid-September, among all the homeless people tested by teams at Valenciennes hospital, 6% had been infected with the coronavirus, according to management figures.
© 2020 AFP