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Health workers in France today protested harsh working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic and demanded that the government hire additional staff, Reuters reported.
Doctors and nurses gathered outside a post office in Nice, the largest city on the French Riviera, to send postcards to President Emmanuel Macron describing their grievances. His initiative is part of a national strike called by the unions.
They participated in a street procession, some of them wearing medical gowns and surgical masks. Health officials called for an end to hospital closings, the hiring of more staff in emergency departments and nursing homes, and better salaries.
In a direct message to Macron, who announced yesterday the curfew in the areas most affected by Covid-19, protesters wrote on a poster: “Hire more. Train more. We are exhausted.”
Macron said curfews in the Paris area and other cities would significantly reduce the number of new infections per day from the current 20,000 cases and ease the workload in intensive care units without stopping the economy.
Currently, Covid-19 patients occupy almost half of the beds in intensive care units in and around the Paris area, the head of the regional health service, Aurelien Rousseau, told Radio France Enter.
Sofia hospitals have been told to cancel a third of non-Covid-19 procedures.
Health workers will protest later today in Paris, Nantes and some other places. The unions said the protests would not lead to disruptions in hospital services.
France
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