The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, sent, Sunday, August 8, an appeal to caregivers to go to Martinique or Guadeloupe where the health situation is deteriorating greatly. 

"I appeal to the national solidarity of our caregivers in metropolitan France to come to the aid of ultra-marine hospitals, and in particular in Martinique and Guadeloupe, which are facing a very intense epidemic wave and which is affecting a population that is still insufficiently vaccinated" , he said on Twitter.

Faced with the health situation in Martinique and Guadeloupe, I appeal for national solidarity to support the medical teams on site.


➡️ If you are a volunteer: get in touch with your establishment or your ARS without delay.

pic.twitter.com/Tz2hqxQytp

- Olivier Véran (@olivierveran) August 8, 2021

"If you are ready to provide additional help in the fight against the epidemic, I ask you to contact your head of establishment, if you work in the hospital, or to contact the ARS so that we can plan with you the support that you can bring to the local populations of Guadeloupe and Martinique ", he added.

The message is addressed to anesthetists, resuscitators, emergency physicians, infectious disease specialists, nurses, in particular resuscitation, or even nursing assistants.

The Minister specifies that the State will take care of the travel and accommodation costs and that there would be a "pay-as-you-go".

A first flight on Tuesday 

The health authorities have "armed many additional resuscitation beds" and called on "all available civilian and military means", he added.

He specifies that a first plane will leave on Tuesday with already dozens of caregivers on board.

In addition, the Minister of Overseas, Sébastien Lecornu, will travel from Tuesday to Guadeloupe and Martinique where a partial containment has been introduced to deal with "the strong resumption of the epidemic".

"The State is present alongside the West Indians to deal with the strong resumption of the Covid-19 epidemic in Guadeloupe and Martinique," the minister announced on Twitter. 

🔴 The State is present alongside the West Indians to deal with the strong resumption of the # Covid19 epidemic in Guadeloupe and Martinique.

I will be going there on Tuesday to take stock of the braking measures put in place and support the reinforcements from France.

- Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) August 8, 2021

"I will be going there on Tuesday to take stock of the braking measures put in place and support the reinforcements from France," he added.

Sébastien Lecornu will arrive in Guadeloupe on Tuesday evening and will travel to Martinique on Thursday, said his entourage.

The health situation in Guadeloupe and Martinique has deteriorated sharply in recent weeks thanks to the spread of the Delta variant, a strain of the coronavirus more contagious than those detected so far.

Saturated hospitals and state of emergency 

The population is also particularly skeptical of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Only 21% of the population in Guadeloupe and Martinique had received a first dose of vaccine as of August 5, according to data from the COVIDTracker site.

The intensive care unit occupancy rate was 200% in Martinique and 150% in Guadeloupe.

Faced with the situation, a state of emergency was declared on the two islands as well as on the islands of Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy and the island of Reunion.

>> To read also: Covid-19: will a vaccine booster soon be necessary in France?

In addition, in order to increase the reception capacity in intensive care at the CHU of Fort-de-France, 50 soldiers from the army health service and the army medical regiment arrived in Martinique during the week. . 

Containment is in effect from 8 p.m. in Guadeloupe and from 7 p.m. in Martinique for the whole night, and only trips within a radius of 10 kilometers are authorized during the day.

Beyond that, proof is required.

With AFP and Reuters 

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