Home » Health » Contaminations on the decline in the northern districts, but “foci of intra-family infection”

Contaminations on the decline in the northern districts, but “foci of intra-family infection”


The northern districts of Marseille. – GERARD JULIEN / AFP

  • Contamination in Covid-19 is down in the northern districts of Marseille, as elsewhere in the department.
  • But doctors warn of intra-family contamination because of the crowded accommodation, which is often overcrowded.

Covid-19 contaminations on the decline, but concerns around outbreaks of intra-family contamination. Of
doctors from the NordCovid cell, a screening and support cell for residents of
North districts of
Marseille, ask that the authorities set up isolation solutions for the sick.

“With each positive case we detect, we summon the family, or we will visit them, to test the other members. Each time there are one, two, or even three people from the same household who are positive, ”notes Dr Slim Hadiji, a member of this cell.

Housing crisis

For him, the only solution to avoid any other contamination lies in the isolation of the patient. “It is the housing crisis in these territories that has such consequences. Sometimes there are three children in the same room. How to isolate them? We managed to isolate one patient in one room, but the rest sleep four or five in the living room, ”says the doctor.

Philippe de Mester, director of the Paca regional health agency, however, assured AFP on Tuesday that “people suffering from coronavirus and who cannot effectively confine themselves to their accommodation will be sheltered and isolated from the deconfinement ”. The ARS has identified two places to receive them, one in Martigues, the other in Marseille.

Home for homeless

Except that the place planned in Marseille is a home normally expected to accommodate patients of Covid-19. “Already these people find it hard to be positive, many are reluctant to leave their families in this way even if they know that it is for the good of everyone. So when they learn that they are going to a center for homeless people, it sounds derogatory for them. A welcome in a hotel, not a 5 star, but with at least wifi, would be the least of things. But the authorities do not put resources, they close their eyes. They are still passing the buck to know who will pay between the city, the metropolis, the department. Frankly, I’m a little ashamed to direct them to this place, “regrets Slim Hadiji.

The term “cluster” has been questioned by the ARS, Philippe De Mester explained that if at the beginning of April, the cases were very numerous, “today we are on 4 to 6% of positivity in these territories, as in the rest of the department. ” But Doctor Slim Hadiji persisted. “Of course there are clusters. In France, when two people from the same family are infected, we talk about a cluster. The ARS cannot lie about that, every time a person is positive they are informed and they can cross-check the information, in particular the addresses. That’s what we did and we found that a lady who tested positive at the IHU had the same address as a family where there were six positive cases. They live on the same floor, ”he says.

Decreasing contamination

According to Doctor Slim Hadiji, contaminations of Covid-19 in the northern districts are decreasing. “Indeed they decrease, only the intra-family contaminations remain. It is thanks to the respect of confinement in the northern districts. Sometimes some people did not even know that their next door neighbor was contaminated because they stay locked up, ”they say.

And when a person is infected at home, the cell makes sure that they do not leave their home. “We have a very important associative fabric. About two every three days, a bag of goods is carried in front of the door so that the person fully respects the confinement, ”explains Slim Hadiji. A role fulfilled by the authorities in many other countries.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.