PARIS (Reuters) – The French Ministry of Health has asked local health authorities and hospitals to enter into a crisis organization to prepare for a possible increase in coronavirus cases due to highly contagious variants, reports Le Journal Du Dimanche.
The move, which will be in line with the measures taken in March and November when France closed, involves increasing the number of available hospital beds, failing non-urgent surgery and mobilizing all medical staff resources.
“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 DGS health authority said in a memorandum quoted by the newspaper on Sunday.
The DGS told Reuters in an email that the memorandum reflected an “anticipatory approach” in light of the ongoing pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Its purpose is to mobilize all health players in the country in the event of an outbreak in the epidemic, which could happen if virus variants circulate,” he said.
Reuters could not independently confirm the contents of the memo quoted by Le Journal Du Dimanche.
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 a new lockout in the hope that a national curfew rule since December 15 will contain the pandemic.
However, some scientists believe that President Emmanuel Macron took a gamble to decide against a new exclusion.
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 to tighten national restrictions are required.
Arnaud Fontanet, a member of the scientific council that advises the government on COVID-19 policy, told Europe 1 radio on Saturday that he fears this variant could account for most cases in March.
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Jean-Stephane Brosse; Edited by Barbara Lewis and Alexander Smith