The image is not trivial. It is from a hospital - the Montpellier University Hospital - that Jean Castex chose this Tuesday to strengthen his speech in the face of the rebound of the coronavirus epidemic. Willingness to extend the wearing of masks outside, call to order on barrier gestures… And the fear, expressed by the Prime Minister after a stroll through the services, of seeing a health system once again "under tension ".
We are however far from the saturation and the astonishment of March-April. Very far from overcrowded "sheaves" and teams forced to push back the walls a little more. But the figures leave a bitter taste of déjà vu. According to the latest data from Public Health France, the number of new hospitalizations for Covid infection is increasing for the third week in a row (782 the week of August 9, against 604 two weeks earlier), especially among those under 40 years old. This Thursday, the milestone of 200 admissions in one day was again crossed. Slight increase also in intensive care and passages in the emergency services.
"I am not worried, I am doubly worried!"
Simple lapping in the water or signs of an upcoming storm? "I am not worried, I am doubly worried! », Answers Gilles Pialoux, the head of infectious diseases at the Parisian hospital Tenon. If we continue like this, the explosion feared by the Scientific Council will not happen in the fall, but before, at the start of the school year. "
At his place, five beds are occupied by Covid patients, but make no mistake: “In March, it started like this. Today there is, including among the doctors, a tranquilizing current, almost denial of the situation. This is devastating, ”he breathes, insisting on the sharp rise in the number of cases (12,301 over the week, throughout France) and his fear of repercussions on a hospital tired of having already fought well.
So, in his establishment, the crisis unit was reactivated. With colleagues from Pitié-Salpêtrière or Saint-Antoine, they exchange information, data, advice on a WhatsApp loop. Like Xavier Lescure, infectious disease specialist in Bichat, many people call for vigilance and the greatest caution of the population. Concern also in hospitals north of Paris, where restarts are being felt. At the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine), a unit dedicated to Covid has been reopened. Its six beds are full, mostly with patients younger than at the height of the crisis.
"The main thing is not zero risk but controlling the epidemic"
“The virus is undeniably circulating, but what we see in the hospital is not spectacular, nuances the infectious disease specialist François Bricaire. The main thing is not to be in zero risk but in control of the epidemic. Hence the interest of testing and tracing contacts. "
"The fact that there is no tension today does not mean that we will be preserved tomorrow," warns Doctor Charline Sazio, resuscitator at Bordeaux University Hospital (Gironde). There are more and more positive cases which will mathematically come into contact with more people, including those at risk. “For the doctor, there is no doubt: we must remain attentive to the signals. “This virus has taught us that we have to be humble,” adds Gilles Pialoux. The more we minimize, the more we put ourselves in danger. "
