Intensive care units in Paris hospitals to be 90% full by next week.
Image Credit: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
The surge of coronavirus cases in Europe is bringing with it, a surge in those who need hospitalizations. In Paris, a coronavirus hotspot, authorities are expecting the intensive care units of Parisian hospitals to be 90% full by the end of next week. On Monday, French health authorities reported a surge in COVID-19 deaths to 94.
Martin Hirsch, head of the public hospital group, APHP said,
By around October 24th, there will be a minimum of 800 to 1,000 COVID patients in intensive care, representing 70 to 90 percent of our current capacity.
APHP head, Martin Hirsch
On Tuesday, President Macron met with the top cabinet ministers to discuss new strategies to curb the spread of the virus. It is believed that a curfew is one of the suggestions that might come into effect. The curfew would apply for Paris, and other cities where their hospitals is on the verge of being overwhelmed. A full lock-down of Paris is so far not agreed on. Any new restrictions discussed on Tuesday will be announced on Wednesday night in a prime-time TV interview.
Currently in France, there are around 1,539 people in intensive care units. The total capacity of all the intensive care units of all the French hospitals is 5,000. Last April, during the peak of the pandemic, around 7,000 patients were in intensive care. Some were put in emergency military field hospitals.
A goverment source told AFP said:
Individual responsibility is 50 percemt of this. We won’t succeed if people don’t get serious.
Mr. Hirsch discussed the importance of reducing social contacts,
All of us – you, me, everyone -have to reduce our social contacts by 20 percent.
APHP head, Martin Hirsch
As of Wednesday, France reported a total number of 756,472 cases and 32,942 deaths.
Share this:
What Now News 24 