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PARIS: The French Ministry of Health has asked regional health agencies and hospitals to enter “crisis organization” as of February 18 to prepare for a possible increase in coronavirus cases due to highly contagious variants, reported Le Journal Du Dimanche on Sunday (February 14).
The measure, which would echo the measures taken in March and November 2020 when France entered national lockdowns, involves increasing the number of available hospital beds, delaying non-urgent surgeries and mobilizing all the resources of the medical staff.
“This crisis organization must be implemented in each region, regardless of the level of hospital stress, and must be operational as of Thursday, February 18,” said the DGS health authority in a memorandum quoted by the newspaper.
The DGS was not immediately available for comment to Reuters.
France reported 21,231 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Saturday, slightly more than 20,701 on Friday, bringing the total number accumulated in France to 3,448,617, the sixth highest in the world.
READ: New French COVID-19 cases remain on average and hospitalizations decrease
Unlike some of its neighbors who struggle to control more contagious variants, France has resisted resorting to a new blockade, waiting for a national curfew to take effect from December 15, first at 8 p.m. and then at 6 p.m. pm, contain the pandemic.
However, some scientists believe that President Emmanuel Macron took a risk by deciding against a new lockdown despite the threat of highly contagious variants.
At the same time, France lags behind other European countries, such as Great Britain, in vaccine deployment.
READ: France recommends 1 dose of vaccine for people who had COVID-19
Health Minister Olivier Veran, who noted that the variant first detected in Britain accounted for 25 percent of new confirmed infections in France, said on Thursday that the government would decide in the coming weeks whether stricter restrictions were necessary. at the 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 could explain most of the cases in March.
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