If the peak of the second wave of the Covid epidemic has undoubtedly been crossed, we must now "
crush the curve
", declared Friday, November 19 the director of the Regional Health Agency of Ile-de-France, Aurélien Rousseau, who fears a "
trivialization of a massive and lasting presence of Covid patients in the hospital
".
Read also: Covid-19: the peak of the second wave has undoubtedly been crossed in France
"
The hospitalization figures must drop, not only because a quarter of people in intensive care die but also because we have to resume normal activity
", explained Aurélien Rousseau, referring to the renunciation of care and to deprogramming.
“
The hospital cannot be the adjustment variable.
We were able to collect 1,000 patients in intensive care in Île-de-France, but that will not be possible over time
, ”he added.
In order to be able to deprogram only 10 to 15% of operations, i.e. very small surgery, it would be necessary, in Ile-de-France, to reach 500 patients in intensive care.
"
A threshold that we do not think to reach until mid-January,
" says the director of the Regional Health Agency.
“
It's very long,
” he said, stressing that “
the Ile-de-France health system, caregivers, have been dealing with Covid patients for 8 months now
”.
On Friday, the total number of patients with Covid-19 hospitalized in Ile-de-France amounted to 6,375, including 952 in critical care - i.e. an 84% bed occupancy.
Almost 40% of the acts are deprogrammed.
“
We know that if we crush the curve, it will take a lot longer to come back up.
However, the time that we save is time during which we improve the treatments, we develop the means of treatment, the vaccine…
”adds Aurélien Rousseau.
Even if the indicators remain at high levels, the French public health agency announced on Friday that the peak of the second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic in France had probably been crossed.
If the drop in indicators is "
good news
" for Aurélien Rousseau, it has "
a direct effect on people's behavior
".
"
On the ring road, it circulates more than a week ago
", he regrets, "
while our subject is to crush this curve
".
Read also: Covid-19: the right epidemic indicators provoke a surge of optimism
