パリの集中治療室、来週にもコロナ患者で飽和の恐れ　規制強化へ

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】仏パリ公立病院連合（AP-HP）の責任者は13日、パリ市内の病院の集中治療室が早ければ来週にも新型コロナウイルス感染症（COVID-19）の患者で飽和状態になる恐れがあると警告した。エマニュエル・マクロン大統領が感染抑制対策を強化するという見方が強まっている。（写真はフランス南部のブレイユシュルロワイヤで演説するエマニュエル・マクロン大統領）
　パリとその周辺の３９の病院を統括するパリ公立病院連合のトップ、マルタン・イルシュ氏は、現地紙「パリジャン」のインタビューで「この状況は避けられない」と指摘。「１０月２４日ごろまでには、最低でも集中治療室に８００~１０００人のＣＯＶＩＤ-１９患者が入るだろう。現在収容できる上限の７０~９０％に相当する人数だ」と警告した。
　この状況でマクロン大統領に感染拡大防止措置の強化を求める圧力が強まっている。マクロン氏は１４日夜のテレビインタビューで規制強化を発表するとみられる。
　マクロン氏は１３日朝に複数の主要閣僚と会い、今後の対策について協議した。仏政府は病院が新型コロナ患者であふれる状況を避けるため、パリなど複数の主要都市で外出禁止令を発令する可能性があると報道されている。
　前回マクロン氏は７月の革命記念日に合わせてテレビのインタビューを受けた。その後、パリと主要都市の多くで閉ざされた公共スペース内と屋外でのマスク着用が義務付けられた。
　大統領府筋は、「今は極めて重要な時期」であり、政府は外出禁止令を検討しているが、パリや主要都市の完全な封鎖措置は今のところ選択肢にないと述べた。また、マクロン氏はインタビューの中で国民に対し、「状況を悪化させないため、長期的にウイルスと共存することを学ぶ必要性」を呼びかける方針だという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/10/14-12:38）

Intensive care units at Paris hospitals will be packed with Covid-19 patients as soon as next week, the system's chief warned Tuesday, ratcheting up expectations that President Emmanuel Macron is preparing tougher measures to slow the surge in cases.
It's inevitable, Martin Hirsch, the head of the 39 hospitals in Paris and its suburbs, told the Parisien newspaper.
By around October 24, there will be a minimum of 800 to 1,000 Covid patients in intensive care, representing 70 to 90 percent of our current capacity, he said.
The prospect puts more pressure on Macron, who is widely expected to announce tighter restrictions in a prime-time TV interview Wednesday night.
He met with top ministers Tuesday morning to evaluate potential measures, with media reports suggesting a curfew is likely for the capital and other cities at risk of seeing their hospitals overwhelmed.
Since Macron's last major TV interview, to mark the Bastille Day holiday in July, the government has made the wearing of face masks compulsory both inside enclosed public spaces nationwide and outside in Paris and most other cities.
This is a pivotal moment, a source close to the presidency said, confirming that while a curfew is under consideration, a full lockdown for the capital or other cities is off the table for now.
Macron will also call on people to better learn to live with the virus, over a longer period, to avoid making the situation even worse, the source said.
- 'Reduce social contacts' -
On Saturday, the number of new infections in France rose by 26,896 in 24 hours, a record since widespread testing began.
And the national health agency reported a spike in Covid deaths on Monday to 94 in the previous 24 hours, with 171 new patients in intensive care.
Individual responsibility is 50 percent of this. We won't succeed if people don't get serious, a government source told AFP.
Hirsch called for tighter work-from-home requirements and new measures to ensure social distancing.
All of us -- you, me, everyone -- have to reduce our social contacts by 20 percent, he said.
In Paris and other at-risk cities, bars have already been closed, access to gyms sharply curtailed, and stricter crowd limits set for shopping malls and other venues.
Overall, 1,539 people are now in intensive care across France, which has a total capacity of some 5,000 beds -- at the height of the crisis last April, more than 7,000 patients were in intensive care, some in emergency military field hospitals.
- 'Clear failures' -
An expert panel set up to evaluate France's response to the pandemic reported Tuesday that it found clear failures of anticipation, preparation and management.
The panel, lead by Swiss infectious disease specialist Didier Pittet, was announced by Macron last June.
Its conclusions are not due until December, but the main findings are being published to provide advice that could be useful now, Pittet said at a press conference in Paris.
The experts pointed to a shortage of face masks early in the outbreak, when officials realised that emergency stocks had been allowed to dwindle in recent years.
Authorities were also slow to ramp up Covid testing, in part because unlike Germany, France doesn't usually involve private labs in its strategy, relying almost solely on hospitals, said Pierre Parneix, a panel doctor based in Bordeaux.
The report also noted a lack of coordination between various authorities and health agencies.
But it lauded the exceptional adaptability and mobilisation of health workers, which allowed the country's hospital system to withstand the shock as cases soared last spring.
The initial report points out mistakes, an Elysee Palace official told AFP, and that's exactly why the president requested it -- So that we know, based on what we've learned, not to make the same mistakes again.