While the threat of saturation of hospitals in Île-de-France is growing, Professor Jean-Michel Constantin, head of the intensive care unit at the Parisian hospital of Pitié-Salpêtrière, believes that he must find "braking measures".

Otherwise, "we put ourselves in danger".

If the government refuses for the time being to reconfine the Île-de-France, the region is not out of the woods so far.

The territory is indeed in the grip of a very sharp increase in the number of Covid-19 patients admitted in an intensive care unit, with 1,034 patients on Wednesday, according to the Regional Health Agency (ARS) for "less than 1,050" beds available .

An increase which greatly concerns Professor Jean-Michel Constantin, head of the intensive care unit at the Parisian hospital of Pitié-Salpêtrière.

For him, something must absolutely be done in the face of this hospital pressure. 

>> LIVE -

Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Tuesday, March 9

"Very difficult" weeks

Anticipating the next few weeks which "are going to be very difficult", the professor affirms at the microphone of Europe 1 that it is necessary to find "braking measures".

But the whole question is whether partial or full re-containment is the solution.

"When the weather starts to be fine and everyone is fed up, we must find braking measures, because otherwise we put ourselves in danger," he says.

According to this specialist, the "worst-case scenario would be to have patients who can no longer be taken in intensive care and who die of acute respiratory failure at the door of the hospital or in the emergency room". 

But beyond the fact that Emmanuel Macron in person is not in favor of a new confinement, Professor Jean-Michel Constantin also raises the question of the acceptability of a new turn of the screw for Ile-de-France residents. 

CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS

> Covid-19: is there really a risk of contamination outside?

> Coronavirus: why can a PCR test be positive one month after infection?

> Are private parties really prohibited with the curfew?

> The English variant would cause slightly different symptoms

> Audio, webcams ... When technology adapts to teleworking

Transfers to other regions

So while waiting for the issue to be decided, the threat of hospital saturation has already pushed ARS Île-de-France to give the "firm order" to hospitals and clinics to deprogram 40% of their medical and surgical activities to increase reception capacities.

For his part, the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, announced at the end of a defense council and the Council of Ministers that "a certain number of medical evacuations" will take place "in the coming days. ", in order to transfer patients to other regions less affected by Covid-19.