“Thank you to our European neighbors.
European solidarity saves lives.
"Last March, Emmanuel Macron thanked in a tweet the efforts of neighboring countries, especially Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
Three countries which had opened their hospitals to French patients in the spring, while the resuscitation capacities were saturated in France.
This time, it's France's turn to reciprocate.
According to our information, France is reaching out to Belgium, Italy and Switzerland.
The latter country, relatively spared in the spring, is facing a second very virulent wave of the epidemic, in French-speaking Switzerland in particular, where intensive care services have been saturated since last Tuesday.
Tension remains high in French hospitals
The subject was raised on Wednesday in the defense council and during the government meeting in Matignon.
"If we manage to strengthen ties between Europeans during this event, it will be a good thing," said a member of the government, who remains very cautious.
The executive is reluctant to communicate this offer to our neighbors so as not to suggest that the French health situation would be improving.
Because the tension remains high in French hospitals.
4,775 beds are occupied by Covid patients in intensive care, for an occupancy rate of… 94.1%.
The fact remains that the hospitals in the Paris region are mobilized: "we have let it be known that we are ready to welcome patients if they need it", we are told to the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, which counts 39 establishments in Ile-de-France.
Even if for the moment, there are still no Swiss, Belgian or Italian patients at the AP-HP today.
And no transfer is planned in the coming days.
The French approach is not surprising in view of European solidarity and reciprocity: medical evacuations have been implemented with Belgium and Germany since October.