Papeete (AFP)
The Covid-19 epidemic has peaked in French Polynesia, with a drop in the number of hospitalizations, even if the situation remains "serious" because the intensive care services are still saturated, said High Commissioner Dominique Sorain on Thursday (Friday in Paris).
Thursday, 303 people were hospitalized in Polynesia, including 57 in intensive care, and 538 people had died since the start of the health crisis in the territory.
The situation "is still serious because we still have hospitals, health centers, which are saturated," the High Commissioner told reporters during a visit to the hospital on the island of Moorea, facing in Tahiti.
"If there is a decrease in the number of hospitalizations", with about "a quarter of hospitalizations less" than ten days ago, the people "who come to the hospital are more in more sick ", and" many are in intensive care unit ", he explained.
"However, there is less frequentation of emergencies, screening centers, so we feel that there is less pressure", explained Mr. Sorain, recalling that the health authorities of Polynesia also estimated "that the peak of the epidemic had been reached ".
For him, "it is a question of being extremely careful because there are always clusters, there is always a contamination, even if the incidence rate published yesterday is a little less than 600 per 100,000 inhabitants , we still have a lot of serious situations here on the ground ”.
Moreover, the high commissioner indicated that he continued "to ask for reinforcements, in particular for the resuscitation part".
For Covid patients who are not in intensive care, "additional capacities have been provided, which have made it possible to lighten the work of care teams with a now drop in hospitalizations".
But at the same time, "there is an additional seriousness of the patients who arrive and we are working on strengthening the resuscitation teams because there is a need for additional skills in this area," he added. he thinks.
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