Covid-19: nearly 4,000 patients in intensive care, new defense council - France 24

Paris (AFP)

Nearly 4,000 Covid-19 patients received in intensive care and saturated hospitals in several regions: the health crisis, at the center of a defense council Wednesday morning at the Elysee Palace, is far from over despite the protection promised by the vaccination campaign.

A new confinement seems nevertheless ruled out in Ile-de-France, the most populous region of the country (12 million inhabitants), where the number of patients received in an intensive care unit has soared in recent days, exceeding the bar on Tuesday. 1,000 patients (1,018) for "less than 1,050" beds available according to the Regional Health Agency (ARS).

To cope with this influx, the ARS gave the "firm order" to hospitals and clinics to deprogram 40% of their medical and surgical activities to increase reception capacities, with a target of 1,577 resuscitation beds, reserved in the most serious cases.

After seven weeks of curfew at 6 p.m. throughout the metropolitan area and more than four months of closure for restaurants, bars, cultural venues and private sports halls in particular, the executive wants to do everything to avoid strict confinements, which are in force in several overseas territories (Mayotte, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna).

- "Last resort" -

The government had already rejected this solution at the national level at the end of January, even though it was demanded by the scientific council.

"No news" in Ile-de-France, again rejected Tuesday the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon, for whom "this measure of last resort would be proposed" if "we were in front of a major risk of not being able to receive seriously ill patients in hospital ".

"We are at saturation point, it continues to rise and we are dispatching patients everywhere, as best we can. We are canceling operations, we are canceling care for other patients, these are the consequences of the absence decision ", regretted Stéphane Gaudry, professor of intensive medicine and intensive care at the Avicenne hospital (Bobigny), interviewed by AFP.

In mainland France, weekend confinements still concern the agglomeration of Dunkirk - where the Northern Prefecture announced their extension on Tuesday - and the Pas-de-Calais department, where they are scheduled until the end of March.

The government must also decide whether this restriction will be extended for Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes coast.

The pace of the vaccination campaign, dependent on limited supplies, does not allow at this stage to consider relief in hospitals, especially in areas where the English variant of the coronavirus has spread at high speed, such as in Dunkirk or in the Paris region.

At Dunkirk hospital, where all the resuscitation beds are occupied, more than 90 patients had to be transferred in one month to other establishments, including five outside the Hauts-de-France region.

- Drop in deaths in Ehpad -

Across France, 3,918 patients were treated on Tuesday in an intensive care unit, a level far from the peaks of the first (7,000 in spring) and the second wave (4,900 in the fall), but the pace has significantly accelerated since the end of February, when the number of patients was around 3,500.

299 new deaths from Covid-19 were recorded in hospitals on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 89,327 deaths since the start of the epidemic a year ago.

On the other hand, the number of deaths in nursing homes, which is published twice a week by the health authorities, fell below the 100 mark on Tuesday, with 70 deaths recorded, the lowest since mid-October.

In these establishments, the coverage rate with one dose of vaccine has reached 85% of residents, and now 63% with two doses.

In total, 4.1 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine, of which 2 million have been vaccinated with two doses, since the start of the campaign, which currently concerns nursing homes, those over 75 years old in city, the most vulnerable 50-74 year olds and caregivers.

The government promises at least 10 million first injections by mid-April.

In this context, the movement of "occupation" of theaters to demand the reopening of cultural places begins to gain momentum, with a mobilization in three national theaters on Tuesday.

© 2021 AFP