PARIS (Reuters) – The French Ministry of Health has asked regional health agencies and hospitals to join the “crisis organization” to prepare for a possible increase in coronavirus cases as a result of highly contagious variants, reported Le Journal Du Dimanche .
The move, which would echo measures taken in March and November, when France went into blockade, involves increasing the number of available hospital beds, postponing non-urgent surgery and mobilizing all the resources of the medical team.
“This crisis organization must be implemented in each region, regardless of the level of hospital stress, and should be operational from Thursday, February 18,” said the DGS health authority in a memo quoted by the newspaper on Sunday .
The DGS said in an email response to Reuters that the memo reflected an “anticipatory approach” in view of the continuing pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The objective is to mobilize all the health actors in the country in case there is a resurgence of the epidemic, which can occur with the circulation of variants of the virus,” he said.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the content of the memo cited by Le Journal Du Dimanche.
France reported 21,231 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Saturday, slightly above 20,701 on Friday, bringing the cumulative total in France to 3,448,617, the sixth largest in the world.
In contrast to some of its neighbors who are struggling to control more contagious variants, France has resisted a new blockade, hoping that a national curfew in force since December 15 will contain the pandemic.
Some scientists, however, believe that President Emmanuel Macron took a risk in deciding against a new blockade.
At the same time, France is behind several other European countries, such as Britain, in launching vaccines.
Health Minister Olivier Veran, who noted that the variant first detected in Britain was responsible for 25% of new infections confirmed in France, said on Thursday that the government will decide in the coming weeks whether tougher national restrictions are required.
Arnaud Fontanet, a member of the scientific council that advises the government on COVID-19 policy, told Europe 1 radio on Saturday that he feared that this variant might be responsible for most cases in March.
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Jean-Stephane Brosse; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Alexander Smith