novel coronavirus at a medical laboratory in Paris amids the
Covid-19 pandemic on September 4, 2020.Christophe ARCHAMBAULT /
AFP
France will face a months-long coronavirus epidemic
that will overwhelm its health system if something does not change,
one of the country’s top medical figures warned
Sunday.
“The second wave is arriving faster than we thought,” Patrick
Bouet, head of the National Council of the Order of Doctors, told
the weekly Journal du Dimanche.
Fresh restrictions to slow the spread of the disease in the
country’s worst-hit areas, including the Mediterranean city of
Marseille and the Paris region, have run into local resistance.
Bouet told the paper that warnings delivered this week by Health
Minister Olivier Veran had not gone far enough.
“He didn’t say that in three to four weeks, if nothing changes,
France will face a widespread outbreak across its whole territory,
for several long autumn and winter months,” Bouet said.
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There would be no medical staff available to provide
reinforcements, and France’s health system would be unable to meet
all the demands placed on it, he warned.
The health workers responsible for the spring “miracle” would
not be able plug those gaps, he added.
“Many of them are exhausted, traumatised.”
France’s health service on Saturday recorded 14,412 new cases
over the previous 24 hours — slightly lower than the record 16,000
registered on both Thursday and Friday.
But over the last seven days, 4,102 people have been
hospitalised, 763 of whom are being treated in intensive care.
On Saturday, Marseille bar and restaurant owners demonstrated
outside the city’s commercial courthouse against forced closures
due to start this evening.
AFP
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/09/27/covid-19-could-overwhelm-france-top-doctor-warns/