In French Polynesia, hospitals are crumbling under the arrival of covid-19 patients. At the Papeete hospital center, beds have been placed in the offices and in the central nave, a passageway converted into a hospitalization area. On the island of Raiatea, a marquee has been erected in the hospital garden to accommodate around twenty patients. With 426 patients hospitalized on Monday, including 55 in intensive care, the situation is increasingly critical.
“We are in a disaster medicine situation. There are people who cannot access
intensive care
and therefore who are in a situation of waiting and unfortunately, if the wait is too long, we run towards death ”
, testified to RTL Philippe Dupire, coordinator of the Covid crisis on the spot.
Read alsoCovid-19: the situation has become dramatic in Tahiti
The incidence rate in the overseas territory now stands at 3,000 active cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a record rate much higher than that of the West Indies, where the situation is nevertheless considered
"dramatic".
Thirty-eight people died in three days this weekend, bringing the death toll from Covid-19 to 423 in French Polynesia.
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French Polynesia: Papeete hospital overwhelmed with Covid-19
Reinforcements from mainland France
Faced with the deterioration of the epidemic situation, a hundred caregivers will be sent to reinforce the hospital staff on site.
"
Thirty to forty people from the health reserve will arrive on Wednesday evening and add to the 28 already present at the hospital,
" said Cédric Bouet, the director of the office of the high commissioner in French Polynesia.
“
At the end of the week, we expect other reinforcements, doctors, nurses and nursing assistants, who are not part of the health reserve but of national solidarity.
They will also strengthen other hospitals,
”he said.
Read alsoCovid-19: more than 200 caregivers join the West Indies to help their colleagues who "call for help"
A tightening of containment came into force last week in the archipelago, leading in particular to the closure of schools and the ban (except for an overriding reason for travel) to leave the home. The epidemic is hitting a population with a high proportion of overweight people, and especially less vaccinated than in metropolitan France. Only one in three Polynesians is fully vaccinated, despite a recent acceleration of the vaccination campaign in the overseas territory. By comparison, in the rest of France, more than 6 in 10 people are fully vaccinated.