REPORTAGE
Are we heading for a second wave of the coronavirus epidemic? It is the fear of all doctors in France. To try to stem the rise of Covid-19 cases on the territory, health measures are amplifying and multiplying. Since Monday morning, for example, it is compulsory to wear a mask in several busy areas of Paris. However, the virus is still circulating: the number of people diagnosed positive for Covid-19 in metropolitan France has increased by more than 30% in one week. Obviously, this rubs off in hospitals, such as the Lariboisière hospital in Paris, where Europe 1 went.
Intensive care admissions resume timidly
In the intensive care unit in this establishment in the north of the capital, admissions have resumed timidly. While he had no longer seen patients with Covid-19, Professor Étienne Gayat once again sees patients in serious condition arriving. “We received a total of five patients at the Lariboisière hospital, and five or six in the medical sectors,” he explains at the microphone of Europe 1. A few months ago, the intensive care unit could accommodate “up to fifty patients and more than a hundred in the fields of medicine”.
Patients (a little) younger than in March
The number of patients in serious condition therefore remains lower compared to the peak of the epidemic. However, resuscitation entries have been resuming for two to three weeks. With one notable difference: the average age of patients has fallen.
“During the first wave, the majority of patients were over 60 years old. Today, we observe a slightly higher proportion of people under 60 years old, but we are still in adult population groups, at – over 40 years most of the time, ”explains Étienne Gayat at the microphone of Europe 1.
Despite this upsurge, a positive point remains to be drawn from the situation: the summer patients admitted to intensive care at Lariboisière stayed for a shorter time. On average, they were only admitted for a few days and without recourse to artificial ventilation. This progress could be explained in particular by the improvement in the effects of certain treatments such as corticosteroids.
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