at the North hospital in Marseille, tension is mounting in the intensive care units

The service of the North hospital of Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) is already almost saturated, yet the nursing staff took care of a new patient with Covid-19, Monday, December 20. A 50-year-old man in respiratory distress has been transferred to intensive care, and occupies the penultimate place. “The sick pile up because they don’t stay 24 hours. They stay on average three weeks“, explains a doctor. In all, fifteen people are supported in this service, most of them unvaccinated. For each intervention, the entire team is mobilized.

In the Marseille region, the incidence rate continues to run wild and puts great pressure on hospitals. “We try to hold on, it’s our daily life for a year and a half now“, says one of the nurses. Especially since the teams are worried about seeing the Omicron variant progress. To relieve the tension, patients are sometimes transferred to other establishments.