Hospitals In France Are Preparing To Anticipate An Increase In New Corona Virus Infection Case

Illustration. (Prasesh Shiwakoti/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The French Ministry of Health has asked regional health agencies and hospitals to be prepared to enter the crisis phase regarding the possible spike in coronavirus cases due to the development of a highly contagious variant.

This announcement was followed by a call for steps taken in March and November last year, when France went into lockdown. Such as increasing the number of beds, delaying non-urgent operations, and mobilizing all medical staff resources.

"This crisis organization must be implemented in every region, regardless of hospital workload, and must operate from Thursday, February 18th," the DGS health authority said in a memo cited by Le Journal Du Dimanche.

The DGS said in an emailed response to Reuters that the memo reflected an anticipatory approach, given the ongoing pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The aim is to mobilize all health workers in the country in the event of an increase in the epidemic, which can occur when a variant of the virus is circulating," he said.

It is known, France reported 21,231 confirmed cases of the new Coronavirus on Saturday, after recording 20,701 cases the day before. France has a total of 3,448,617 cumulative cases or the sixth highest in the world.

Health Minister Olivier Veran noted the new variant, which was first detected in Britain, accounts for 25 percent of new confirmed infections in France. The French government plans to discuss reintroducing stricter national restrictions in the near future.

Previously reported, the Health Advisory Scientific Council of France advised the government to impose a lockdown for the third time. This lockdown can be carried out during school holidays, to anticipate the development of new multiple variants of the coronavirus in France.

"We may need to go into a lockdown. Whether it needs a very tight lockdown like the first in March (2020) or a slightly lax form in November, it is a political decision," Jean-François Delfraissy, head of the Government's Advisory Scientific Council on COVID-19, told BFM television as reported by Reuters last January.

"If we don't tighten the regulations, we will be in a very difficult situation from mid-March. This new variant is equivalent to the second pandemic," added Delfraissy.