Covid-19: in Marseille, the 4th wave complicated by social inequalities
Audio 01:13
The Timone hospital in Marseille (illustrative image).
LP / CLAUDE PARIS
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
The Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Paca) region has been on a “white plan” for a week already to deal with a fourth wave of Covid-19.
A situation that is difficult to manage in an area where the vaccination rate is one of the lowest in France.
Report at the Timone hospital in Marseille.
Publicity
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With our special
correspondent in Marseille,
Marie Casadebaig
Professor Lionel Velly's intensive care unit has twenty beds.
Fifteen are occupied by Covid patients, fifteen unvaccinated patients And it will soon be insufficient, hence this phone call: "
It is a call for help to the care department to try to have overtime
" , explains the doctor.
Because the next two weeks promise to be extremely complicated.
This fourth wave, as elsewhere, mainly affects 30-40 year olds, an active generation, little vaccinated and in which the virus circulates extremely quickly.
But in Marseille, even more than elsewhere, social inequalities translate into resuscitation.
“
Here, we are in a population with a digital divide,
underlines Lionel Velly.
Making an appointment on Doctolib is extremely easy.
But we see that there is a language barrier and that people have a lack of information on vaccination.
And when you look at the distribution of the vaccinated according to the different neighborhoods, it is more than screaming.
"
►
To read also: Covid-19: in France the 4th wave is confirmed, young people more affected
The service had prepared for a change in patient profile.
Not always easy for morale.
“
It challenges us too when it comes to our families, our friends.
This means that everyone can be affected,
”admits Laura, nurse.
The epidemic has already worn out Professor Velly's team.
Calling back staff on leave will therefore only be a last resort.
In mainland France, the white plan was launched on Tuesday, August 10 in a fourth region, in New Aquitaine in the South-West.
It is the fourth region to apply this measure after Corsica, Paca and Occitanie.
This crisis mechanism allows hospitals to push the walls when their services are threatened with saturation.
► To read also: Covid-19 in France: faced with the influx of patients, the white plan activated in Corsica and Paca
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