Covid-19: Polynesia overwhelmed by an unprecedented wave of contamination – Franceinfo

At the Tahiti hospital center, in Polynesia, the influx of Covid-19 patients is such that emergencies use part of the parking lot for lack of space. “We had to do an equivalent of an advanced medical post to welcome and accept the wave that fell on us with the Covid“, details Tony Tekuataoa, head of emergencies, who speaks of a situation”catastrophic“, Thursday September 2.

The few available beds are constantly being counted. 283 are currently occupied, 47 in intensive care, three times more than usual. The recovery room in the operating theater has become a resuscitation unit. The reception hall was requisitioned to deploy 24 additional beds in anticipation of the worst. Patients who have developed severe cases are often overweight or obese, unvaccinated. Last week, 80 people died within these walls, unheard of. Caregivers fear trauma, faced with the violence of the Delta variant.