Suresnes (AFP)

Emmanuel Macron said Thursday he was very "concerned" by the "long Covid" with which we will have to "live sustainably", 10 to 15% of those who have had the disease with symptoms while suffering, according to the caregivers he met at the Foch hospital in Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine).

"The long Covid worries us a lot with the Minister" of Health, Olivier Véran, also present during the visit, launched the Head of State.

"Research is underway and our health system is adapting. We must learn, recognize and take care of patients," he added at the same time in a message posted on Twitter.

During the visit, Emmanuel Macron was explained at length the symptoms and treatment options for long Covid, and in particular the key role of physiotherapists, whose practitioners in town could be trained while the hospital cannot absorb all the patients.

During a stroll, a patient explained to the president having "had the Covid in April 2020, then relapsed in September".

"I always have trouble catching my breath but also struggling to concentrate, to find the words," he continued.

Another, on the verge of tears, confided his dismay at not having completely regained his sense of smell and, above all, experiencing "memory loss", while he has "a baby of seven months".

The Elysee Palace stressed on Wednesday that "the adaptation of the health system to ensure the management of the long-term Covid and the initiation of the research necessary to know these symptoms is today a major issue".

The National Assembly unanimously voted on February 17 a resolution to recognize and deal with the long-term complications of Covid-19.

It also recommended to "facilitate the recognition as an occupational disease of the affections caused by the serious forms" of this disease in cases where it would have been contracted at work, whereas today, the occupational disease is not recognized only to caregivers with respiratory sequelae.

During his visit, the President of the Republic - who also suffered from Covid at the end of last year - took part in an odor recognition test, used during smell tests carried out in this hospital in the suburbs west of Paris, by Professor Jérôme Lechien.

By sniffing the test tube, Emmanuel Macron recognized a "citrus" smell.

But, according to the doctor, he could not identify precisely the scent of orange.

© 2021 AFP