仏、新型コロナ感染者をＴＧＶなどで大規模移送　流行地でＩＣＵ確保へ

【ナンシーＡＦＰ＝時事】フランスでは29日、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大により集中治療室（ICU）の不足が深刻な懸念となっている東部の病院から、感染者数が比較的少ない西海岸や隣国ドイツの病院へ患者の大規模移送が行われた。関係当局は今後数日間で重症例がさらに増加するとみて、警戒を強めている。（写真は仏東部ミュルーズで、高速鉄道TGVの特別列車に新型コロナウイルス感染症の患者を運び入れる救急医療チーム）
　これまでで最大の移送作戦は、仏国内でも最も感染者が集中している東部ミュルーズとナンシーの病院から、高速鉄道ＴＧＶの特別列車で西海岸まで患者３６人を運ぶというもの。病院関係者は２９日未明から警察や軍の警備の中で、数時間かけて１車両に４人ずつ患者を乗せた。
　「病床を空けなければならない。これは絶対に必要なことだ。患者数は増加し続けている」と北東部メッス近郊の救急当局者は述べた。
　同じく東部のストラスブールにはドイツ軍の軍用機が初めて派遣され、患者２人が独南部ウルムの病院に移送された。
　アメリ・ドモンシャラン仏欧州問題担当相によると、現在およそ８０人のフランス人感染者がドイツ、スイス、ルクセンブルクの病院に入院している。
　ＩＣＵに入院中の重症患者は、仏全土で４６００人を超えている。多くは呼吸器に深刻な症状があり人工呼吸器が必要だが、関係者によれば間もなく機器の不足に直面する恐れがある。
　エドゥアール・フィリップ首相は２８日、新型ウイルス流行前の１月時点で約５０００床しかなかったＩＣＵの増床に政府が取り組んでおり、近くベッド数は１万４０００床に増えると語った。
　首都パリの空港には２９日、中国からマスク５５０万枚や医療機器が空輸された。だが、仏政府は医療従事者用だけでも毎週４０００万枚のマスクが必要だとの見方を示している。
　フランスでは今月、感染拡大を抑制する目的で１７日から厳しい外出禁止措置が敷かれている。この措置は４月１５日までの延長が決まっている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/03/31-13:09）

France staged its largest evacuation of coronavirus patients to date from hospitals in the hard-hit east on Sunday, increasing efforts to free up intensive care units as officials warned of an influx of serious cases in the coming days.
Two specially equipped high-speed trains carried 36 patients from Mulhouse and Nancy to hospitals along France's western coast, where the outbreak has been limited so far.
Dozens of hospital workers, flanked by police and soldiers standing guard, spent hours installing four patients in each wagon in an operation that began before dawn.
We have to free up beds, it's absolutely crucial.... We're still seeing an increase in patient numbers, said Francois Brun, head of emergency services at the regional hospital in nearby Metz.
The evacuations came as Germany sent a military plane for the first time to Strasbourg to transport two patients to a hospital in Ulm.
Around 80 French patients have been hospitalised in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, European Affairs Minister Amelie de Montchalin told France Inter radio.
France has been evacuating dozens from the east over the past week, hoping to stay ahead of a crisis that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has warned will only worsen over the next fortnight.
Overall, more than 4,600 coronavirus patients are in intensive care in France, many with severe respiratory problems requiring ventilators that officials worry could soon be in short supply.
Philippe said at the weekend the government was racing to have 14,000 intensive care beds available soon, compared with just 5,000 before the outbreak began in January.
On Sunday the national health service reported 292 new coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,606.
The daily toll was below the 319 deaths reported on Saturday, but the figures include only deaths reported in hospitals, and not at retirement homes or assisted-living facilities.
Also Sunday the housing ministry announced it would commandeer 5,000 hotel beds to house homeless people during the crisis.
- 'Battle is only starting' -
Officials fear the virus may spread quickly at the country's roughly 7,000 retirement homes, and several have already announced dozens of deaths.
Those figures will start to be reported this week, the prime minister said on Sunday, warning that the battle is only starting.
This war will probably be won on the basis of intensive care beds, and our ability to strategically use all our intensive care resources on the national level, said Marie-Odile Saillard, director of the Metz regional hospital.
National health service chief Jerome Salomon said 359 more people were placed in intensive care on Sunday.
This is the most important number to keep track of because it reflects the strength of the epidemic, he said at his daily briefing.
The government has ordered a billion face masks, mainly from China, but warned that surging worldwide demand for protective equipment means they might not arrive soon enough for medical workers currently facing shortages.
A plane from China carrying 5.5 million masks and other equipment arrived in Paris on Sunday, though the government has admitted it needs 40 million masks each week for health workers alone as the outbreak rages.
Our first Boeing 777 Cargo has just landed at #ParisCDG with close to 100 tonnes of medical equipment on board, including more than 5 million masks, Air France tweeted.
France has been on lockdown since March 17 in a bid to limit the contagion, a situation it has extended until at least April 15.