The situation seems to improve in France, at least as long as it involves hospitals’ occupancy! A few days ago, over 95% of ICU beds in the country were taken, and some French patients even had to be transferred to Germany and Belgium to be properly taken care of, these data have been regularly decreasing since the beginning of the week. And Santé Publique France also says the peak of the second wave of the epidemic has probably been passed.
The 39 hospitals in Île-de-France are to welcome in a matter of days covid patients from Belgium, Switzerland and even Italy, where hospitals are being overwhelmed. The issue has been addressed by the French President this past Wednesday during the Defense Council, as confirmed by the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris to Le Parisien, explaining “We let them know we were willing to welcome sick if they need to”.
This is no secret for anyone, Emmanuel Macron is a convinced European. Since the pandemic broke out, he has always worked for keeping European Union inner borders open. And his team now considers that “if we can reinforce bonds between Europeans during this challenge, this would be a good thing”. In March already, the President thanked – on Twitter – his European neighbors, specifically Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, for welcoming French sick in their hospitals.
Merci à nos voisins européens. La solidarité européenne sauve des vies. https://t.co/HGavQOAwXD
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 23, 2020
Tweet reads: “Thank you to our European neighbors. European solidarity is saving lives”.
It is then very logic that France returns the favor, but it does not mean the crisis has passed.
