The French capital region of Ile-de-France has once again started moving “heavy” coronavirus patients to other parts of the country due to the growing burden on hospitals.
This is reported by Le Figaro.
On March 13, the first three “severe” patients were sent by helicopter to hospitals in the west of the country — in the cities of Nantes, Anger, and Mans, where the situation is better and the burden on the medical system is less.
On March 14, four more patients should be sent, said a representative of the Emergency Medical Services Agency (SAMU).
In the middle of the week, the first transfer of patients with a converted high-speed train, which was created during the first wave of the epidemic, in the spring of 2020, will probably take place for a long time.
Prime Minister Jean Castex recently said that the situation in the region is already “very tense”.
According to the latest data from the regional health agency, the incidence rate in Ile-de-France is 365 cases per 100,000 population (in the Paris suburb of Saint-Saint-Denis, even 464), while the national average is 220.
In Paris, for the seventh week, a daily curfew is in effect from 18-00 to 06-00, and restaurants, gyms, and cultural institutions have been closed for four months.
The increase in the number of patients and the load on the intensive care unit is partly attributed to the spread of the mutated British strain in France. It already accounts for 67% of the detected cases.
