PARIS (Reuters) – The French Ministry of Health has asked local health authorities and hospitals to enter a “crisis organization” from February 18 to prepare for a possible increase in coronavirus cases due to highly contagious variants, Le Journal Du Sunday reported Sunday.
The move, which will be in line with the measures taken in March and November 2020 when France entered national exclusion, involves increasing the number of available hospital beds, failing non-urgent operations and mobilizing all resources for medical staff. .
“This crisis organization must be implemented in every region, regardless of the level of hospital stress, and must be operational from Thursday 18 February,” the health authority DGS said in a memorandum quoted by the newspaper.
The DGS was not immediately available for comment to Reuters.
France reported 21,231 newly confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, rising slightly from 20,701 on Friday, bringing the total cumulative number in France to 3,448,617, the sixth highest in the world.
Unlike some of its neighbors who are struggling to control more contagious variants, France has resisted using a new lockout, hoping for a national evening clock since December 15, first at 8pm and then at 6pm , the pandemic will contain.
However, some scientists believe that President Emmanuel Macron has taken a gamble to decide against a new exclusion, despite the threat of highly contagious variants.
At the same time, France is running behind several other European countries, such as Britain, to carry out vaccinations.
Health Minister Olivier Veran, who noted that the variant first detected in Britain was responsible for 25% of confirmed new infections in France, said on Thursday that the government would decide in the coming weeks whether stricter restrictions at national level.
Arnaud Fontanet, a member of the scientific council advising the government on COVID-19 policy, told Europe 1 radio on Saturday that he feared the variant first detected in Britain would cover the majority of cases in March. can account for.
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Jean-Stephane Brosse; edited by Barbara Lewis