Hospitals on the French Riviera have been placed on an emergency footing as the country’s fourth wave of coronavirus led to a surge in intensive care admissions, reports The Times.
The so-called White Plan, which is activated in an “exceptional health situation”, enables administrators to cancel non-urgent operations and summon medical staff back from their holidays.
In a sign of growing alarm over the crisis, hospital managers also issued an appeal for doctors holidaying in the region to report to hospitals to provide help for beleaguered staff.
The activation of the emergency measures in the Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur region, which runs from the Camargue wetland in the west to the Italian border in the east, follows a similar move in the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, another popular holiday destination.
Epidemiologists blame the rise in infections on the Riviera and in Corsica on gatherings of young people, both visitors and locals, spreading the virus to older age groups.