In France, they warn of collapse of intensive care units due to increase in coronavirus infections

More than 40 directors of the crisis cells of the Association d’Assistance Publique de Paris warned this Sunday that in the next two weeks, the increase in coronavirus infections would lead to a virtual collapse of intensive care units in the French capital’s healthcare system and its surroundings.

“In the next two weeks, we have a virtual certainty on the number of intensive care beds that will be necessary and we already know that our support capacities will be exceeded at the end of this period”, warns a press release signed by 41 French professionals, including the teacher Bruno Riou, director of the association which brings together the Parisian hospital system.

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In a column published in Sunday Newspaper, French doctors warn that this health situation will lead to a dramatic situation. “There will be a clear mismatch between needs and available resources,” they said. And they added: “We will be forced to categorize patients to save as many lives as possible“.

In this sense, they said that this classification “will affect all patients”, whether those with COVID-19 and those outside the pandemic, in particular “for the access of adult patients to intensive care”.

“The triage of patients has already started. They imposed a large medical and surgical deprogramming“In view of the worsening health situation due to the pandemic, they said.

And they specified: “This deprogramming will have to intensify in the coming days.”

The situation in intensive care

The Regional Health Agency (ARS) has asked hospitals in Ile-de-France, as the Paris region is known, “to anticipate an increase in the number of beds” for intensive care. The goal is to have 2,200 beds to treat patients with coronavirus.

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French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, met this Sunday the medical directors of the crisis cells of the Association d’Assistance Publique de Paris to analyze the health situation.

This Sunday, the number of patients in intensive care reached nearly 4,900 in the country, almost at the same level as the peak of last fall, when it reached 4,903, according to official data.

A total of 4,872 patients were in intensive care this Sunday against 4,791 on Saturday.

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The number of patients in intensive care has increased steadily since the low recorded on January 7 when 2,573 patients were reported.

The total number of people hospitalized in France due to COVID-19 was 27,712 on Sunday. In the past 24 hours, 131 people have died from the pandemic, up from 194 on Saturday. A total of 94,623 people have died in the country since the start of the epidemic.