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The first of several medical transfers has begun for a handful of Covid-19 patients from the suburbs of Paris to other parts of France as intensive care wards in the strained area. More to follow on Sunday. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jean Castex has said health workers must “adapt” to the new conditions after announcing further delays in the delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Three Covid patients were transferred Saturday from hospitals in the central Ile-de-France region (including Paris and its suburbs) to other regions of France to relieve the intensive care wards that are currently receiving Covid patients every 12 minutes, according to The Parisien newspaper.
The flight was flown by hospital to hospitals in western France, according to health authorities (ARS), while three other patients will also be transported Sunday to clinics in the southwestern Nouvelle-Aquitaine area and central Pays. de la Loire.
Covid has more than 5,500 patients in the Ile-de-France region, 1,100 of whom are in intensive care units.
Razor edge
Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Jean Castex and health minister Olivier Véran announced that hospitals are taking out 40 percent of their non-emergency operations to make room for the growing Covid patients. On Saturday that figure had only reached 23 per cent.
“We are walking on the edge of a razor,” French Prime Minister Jean Castex admitted in an interview with Le Monde daily newspaper. “The situation is very worrying,” he added “We must be ready at any time to take further action if necessary.”
However, the PM has blocked the idea of another tight lock in Paris for now, much to the dismay of some doctors and experts. For now, he is banking on the logistics of the transfer program and the 6 pm-6am curfew that is still in place across the country.
The government is also banking on the possibility of arranging other medical transfers on a train, operated by SNCF, as was done at the height of the first wave of the virus in March and April 2020.
200 patients were transported by train from the Paris area to other regions at that time.
Vaccine delay
On Saturday morning, when he visited a vaccination center in the central Deux-Sèvres region, Castex was asked to respond to the news from the AstraZeneca laboratory that further delays for their vaccinations at EU level would be expected.
“We have targeted 10 million vaccines by April 15 and I hope we stick to this date. But we need to be careful as some laboratories have been causing problems. in terms of delivery, so we need to change. “
AstraZeneca, for its part, says that production was outsourced to laboratories outside the EU, meaning that export restrictions caused delays in the first quarter, which There may be a delay in the second quarter.
At EU level, Austria and several other countries called a meeting to discuss the quotas for vaccines prescribed at block level. They are dissatisfied with the current system, saying that the needs of their countries have not been carefully considered and that the distribution is too slow.
Older people were excluded
In other developments, self-governing minister Brigitte Bourgignon announced Friday that restrictions would not be as severe for residents of Ephads, or old care homes.
On Saturday, they would be able to leave their flats and visit relatives, if they had received a double injection of the vaccine.
“They will not have to try or separate themselves if they have received two doses of the vaccine,” she said, adding that those who have not been vaccinated could go out but have to separated for seven days when they return.
This will be in an effort to end the feeling of loneliness that many residents and their families encounter.
France has now reached a death toll of 90,146 people, an increase of more than 200 in the last 24 hours.
There are currently 24,749 patients hospitalized nationwide, more than 4,000 in intensive care.