It will not take more than a post on social networks to trigger a wind of panic. At the heart of the rumor, a mysterious Madame Yan. On the Chinese application WeChat, this resident of Wuhan, a city confined to limit the spread of the coronavirus, posted a message that is difficult to interpret. On the one hand, she appears in Lyon, all smiles, seated at the restaurant, tasting local specialties. On the other, information which, if verified, could be explosive.
And for good reason, she explains, suffering from a fever and a "small cough", having passed without checks the airport controls from the Middle Empire to France. What to thrill the Chinese ambassador to France, who, alerted by concerned citizens, split on Thursday, a statement. He said that he had contacted Ms. Yan, asking her to call "quickly" on the 15th. So the curious story seemed to have become a fact.
Really? "To my knowledge, there are no doubtful cases in France," retorted, this Thursday, the Minister of Health, Agnès Buzyn. Admittedly, so far, there have been two suspected coronaviruses, but tests have ruled out any infection.
A test already implemented in Paris and Lyon
The fact remains that France is on the alert while around the world 600 people have already been affected by the epidemic, a hundred hospitalized and 18 have died, mainly in Asia. "We are ready," said the minister, ensuring that our hospitals have the capacity to take care of any infected patients.
How do you know if they are sick with the flu or what is already known as nCoV? Again, Agnes Buzyn is reassuring: "We are already able to have a very rapid diagnosis" thanks to a very specific test which allows detection in record time. Already implemented in Paris and this Friday in Lyon, it will be rolled out nationwide next week.
Call 15
More and more French people are worried about feeling the symptoms of the coronavirus, very similar to those of the flu: fever, chills, sweating, fatigue, body aches, headache but also respiratory discomfort. An anxiety that translates to the number of phone calls made to the emergency services.
For example, in Samu du Val-d'Oise alone, five people called in less than 72 hours. "The situation is very evolving," says its director, Agnès Ricard-Hibon, also president of the French Society of Emergency Medicine. Among them, one returned from South Korea, the other from Thailand and one from China, where she had been in contact with a resident of Wuhan. But all doubt has been removed.
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VIDEO. France "able to have a very rapid diagnosis"
Haven't you already bothered the emergency services, already overloaded? "Not at all," said the doctor. If in doubt, this is exactly the way to go. »Phone yes, go to the emergency room, especially not to avoid any risk of contamination. "You absolutely must call 15! The interest, she continues, is that we have a very precise questionnaire which allows us to know whether or not this is a possible case. "
If the latter option is confirmed, an ambulance, with carers on board, protected by masks and aprons, goes to the patient. There, he was evacuated to a specialized hospital service, quarantined until the suspicion was dismissed. “The earlier we act, the more organized we are and the more we can prevent the epidemic from coming to us. "
