“The virus is everywhere in the department”

Category: “The virus is everywhere in the department”

The representative of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) in Haute-Marne, Damien Réal took stock of the health situation yesterday in the early afternoon. It specifically explains why the figures are so negative in Haute-Marne.

“Our department is currently experiencing very active circulation of the virus. The virus is everywhere and affects all age groups ”, begins Damien Réal, regional delegate of ARS in Haute-Marne. He pushes the point home and sends a message to those who mistakenly feel “safe”: “There is no land that is spared. Wherever we are in the department, we can be confronted with the virus. “

As of Thursday evening, the incidence rate has been 540 per 100,000 population in the past seven days. “It is very high,” complained the representative of the health agency. The test positivity rate is over 21%. “The incidence rate for over 65s is 616 per 100,000 inhabitants. Here, too, we see a continuous increase in these indicators. “Despite these figures above the French average and the Grand East average, the number of emergency visits for Covid reasons remains moderate. “We do not have a situation of emergency services saturation due to Covid. This is good news …”

Bullish moment

On Thursday evening 110 people were hospitalized in Haute-Marne due to Covid and five in intensive care. “Since the beginning of the epidemic, 115 people have died in hospitals. I remind you that at the end of August we were 75 people who died from the first wave. Since the beginning of September, 40 people have died in the department.

“As for the dynamics of the epidemic, I remind you that the Grand East region is experiencing a time lag: we were hit with a small delay. At first we were spared. Even within the region, the departments are not all at the same time. The department of Haute-Marne is not keeping up with the Marne and Meurthe-et-Moselle, for example, ”continues Damien Réal. The Haute-Marne is still “in a bullish dynamic or at least in a very gradual decline”. The situation is similar in the Upper Rhine and the Meuse.

Effects in ten days

For Damien Réal, “imprisonment is a means that can break the effects of the epidemic, but one has to wait ten days to see its effects in Haute-Marne”. But the representative of the ARS in Haute-Marne, accustomed in recent months to being the messenger of bad news, wants to see a glimmer of optimism: “The metropolises under curfew and imprisonment are starting to see it. The effects, with a slowing down of the epidemic. in several areas.This shows that containment is paying off and that the reduction of social interactions is disrupting the dynamics of the epidemic.

In Haute-Marne the effects of imprisonment are “timid”. “I urge the entire population not to lower their vigilance”.

A glimmer of hope

Welcoming the mobilization of the nursing staff, the representative of the ARS invites everyone “to be the architect of the fight against the epidemic while respecting the barrier gestures”. He also recommends not waiting to be contacted by health insurance to take strict measures. “I urge anyone with symptoms to isolate themselves and be especially careful to avoid infecting loved ones while waiting for a result. “

Damien Réal concludes by recalling that the rurality of the Upper Marne “is not a protective factor. As soon as we have interactions, we can get in touch with the virus. “

“We should see the light from the end of the tunnel very soon. In the meantime, let’s keep our efforts to break this dynamic together. “

Sylvie C. Staniszewski

Half of the nursing homes in the Upper Marne affected

Establishments hosting non self-sufficient elderly people are subject to special surveillance by the health authorities. As the people being housed are particularly vulnerable to the virus – due to their age and health – the consequences can be dramatic for residents. “Half of the nursing homes are currently affected by at least one case of Covid. This can involve staff, a resident, or both. A number of structures have numerous cases that generate strong attention in several respects. Residents are already frail. Subsequently, the teams working in nursing homes are relatively “small” in number and can therefore be quickly destabilized when three, four or five team members are ill and can no longer work … “

Upon returning from vacation, test campaigns were carried out at the beginning of November “to test all personnel and identify any sick agents”. “For a number of positive residents, we have asymptomatic forms. This is good news … But some also have degraded forms, which require hospitalization. Two residents of the nursing home died … “

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No comparison possible

“It would be risky to compare the current situation with that of the first wave because we had a lower test capacity at the time. Fewer people and more symptomatic people were tested in the sick environment. The positivity rates were very high during the first wave, ”said Damien Réal yesterday. “Today we test people with symptoms, contact cases and people without symptoms. The panel of people tested is not the same. “

Ramp to Saint-Dizier

Hospitals make sure not to deprogram interventions or as little as possible. However, “they are preparing to do so and to increase Covid patient care. “In Saint-Dizier, the 24 beds dedicated to the Covid hospitalization are already occupied: they are working to deprogram the interventions for next week and to increase the hospitalization capacity of Covid patients to 36 beds.

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Posted 11-14-2020 at 15:10

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