Plus 63% of deaths in a week. Thursday evening, during his daily update on the health situation related to Covid-19, Jérôme Salomon, the Director General of Health had mentioned an excess of mortality in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, without revealing a figure. This Friday, the National Institute of Statistics sheds light on the number of daily deaths by department in France in March. A table that shows that the percentage of deaths increased by 63% on the 93 between the week of March 14 to 20 and that of March 21 to 27.
A rate much higher than those recorded by other Ile-de-France departments, such as Val-d'Oise (+ 47%), Hauts-de-Seine (+ 36%) or even Paris (+ 32%). In detail, the epidemic began to accelerate in Seine-Saint-Denis from March 24. That day, 625 people lost their lives against 551 the same day last year. A figure which - it should be remembered - takes into account all the deceased, whether or not they died from the Covid-19. Since then, their number has continued to increase daily, reaching 940 on March 30 against 643 on March 30, 2019. In Montreuil, the second city of the department, the effects are already being felt in the service of the Civil Registry, which noted a two-fold increase in the number of deaths on Wednesday and a four-fold increase on Thursday (compared to 2019).
How should we interpret this 63% increase that the Directorate General for Health did not comment on? The Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency only points out, for its part, that "excess mortality results from a multifactorial analysis and an in-depth study requiring theses and epidemiological articles". While the department's health system is often described as disadvantaged compared to those in other territories, is there a greater risk of dying in Seine-Saint-Denis than elsewhere?
Fewer departures to the province
"It would be wrong to conclude this, even if the department has fewer places for resuscitation, said Frédéric Adnet, director of Samu 93 and head of the emergency department of the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny. Patients can be transported to Paris or to other departments in the outer suburbs. It should also not be assumed that patients will come to the emergency services later. When they have coronavirus with forms of respiratory distress, they immediately call the fire department or 15 ”.
On the other hand, the doctor estimates "that there are more sick people in Seine-Saint-Denis". Firstly, because the massive departures of Ile-de-France residents, just before the start of confinement, had very little impact on 93. “Here, people have no second home. They stayed there and therefore have more recourse to hospital structures, ”he explains. The head of service believes that containment measures are also less effective in the territory, especially among the most vulnerable. “When I look out of the hospital window, I see a huge slum, where ten people live in a roofless hut. We are dealing with a very precarious population, the homeless, who have other concerns than confinement. "
What is the profile of the deceased? We will have to wait several days before having detailed data from INSEE. For his part, Frédéric Adnet notes that in the flood of seriously ill patients, men suffering from hypertension and overweight are numerous. "There may be a genetic determinism," he slips.
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