Several hospitals in the Grand-Est region proceeded Thursday, November 5 and Friday, November 6 to transfers to Germany of patients suffering from Covid-19 to "
anticipate any risk of saturation
" indicated some establishments.
These are the first transfers abroad of this second wave of the epidemic.
Read also: Covid-19: France risks suffering a "second wave higher and longer" than the first
These transfers concern Moselle patients "
in critical care
": one from the Bel Air hospital in Thionville, at least one patient from the Sarreguemines hospital center, and one from the Saint-Avold hospital.
They are transferred to hospitals in the Land of Sarre, on the border with France and located a few tens of kilometers from Thionville.
The Metz-Thionville CHR, to which the Bel Air hospital is attached, specified that these were the “
first transfers
” leaving these establishments to foreign hospitals, in the context of the second wave of the epidemic of Covid-19.
He announced in a statement that his services "
are not currently saturated
", but that these transfers were made in order "
anticipate any risk of saturation of services
”.
The hospital currently receives 147 patients with the coronavirus, including 28 in "
critical care
".
The CHR, however, pointed out "
difficulties in arming
" additional beds because of the "
lack of nursing staff
".
Citing projections from the Institut Pasteur, he said he expected an epidemic peak "
in mid-November
".
Sarreguemines hospital, which has gone from 9 to 14 intensive care beds in recent days, is also "
in the process of scaling up to accommodate the additional flow of patients,
" said a spokesperson.
"
Continuing care units are transformed into intensive care beds
," he said.
"
Things are stretching, but we are not yet, in our case, at the same level as what we experienced in the spring
", when the hospital was operating with 21 intensive care beds.
On Thursday, the Grand-Est Regional Health Agency also announced the transfer of patients from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region to the intensive care units in Nancy and Strasbourg, and underlined the "
primordial
" nature of the "
National solidarity
".
During the first wave of the epidemic, 330 patients from Grand-Est had been transferred to other French regions and abroad, by military plane, helicopter or medical TGV in particular.
Read also: Covid-19: is this second wave worse than the first?
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