A good decontainment must be able to prepare for all eventualities. Starting with failure. "An emergency reconfiguration must be anticipated," warns in his report on deconfinement published Monday the senior official Jean Castex, calling for preserving the "reversibility of measures" in the event of a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic.
The reconfiguration, as it stands, is only mentioned very briefly in the document. "In the absence, in the short term, of vaccine or curative solution, the French population remains vulnerable to a resumption of the epidemic", underlines in a document of 68 pages Jean Castex, who had been charged by the Prime Minister with coordinate the strategy of deconfinement started on Monday.
The reconfiguration "must remain in the minds"
The "effects" of such a revival "would be particularly damaging for an already proven society and, more particularly, for the nursing staff", warns Jean Castex, whose work has guided the government's choices in terms of deconfinement at the school, transport, business etc.
In this report, made public on Monday, the senior civil servant and mayor of Prades (Pyrénées-Orientales) insists on the “very high level of vigilance” which must be observed in this first stage of deconfinement. "The possibility of reversibility of the measures must therefore always be available and the possibility of an emergency reconfiguration must remain in the minds and be anticipated by the public authorities", he urges.
Progressive disarming of beds in intensive care
For example, Jean Castex recommends a very “progressive” “disarming” of the intensive care beds in the hospital, whose capacity had been increased during the crisis. And their reopening must be able to take place “very quickly (within 24, 48 or 72 hours depending on the beds) to cope with a new influx of patients”. "Particular attention should also be paid to human resources in a context of fatigue of hospital staff, especially in the regions most affected by the crisis," warns Jean Castex.
Similarly, if travel is permitted again under certain conditions, "the prefects may reinstate restrictions locally" at any time. In the event of reconfiguration, Jean Castex already calls to "provide social and economic support systems of the nature of those put in place during the confinement period", but also to "better prevent the psychosocial risks of confinement , now better known ”.