Several hundred health workers took to the streets of Paris on Thursday afternoon to protest against conditions in French hospitals, as the number of new coronavirus cases surges across the country.
Doctors, nurses and other health workers â their faces covered with medical masks â waved banners and flags as they marched from the cityâs Invalides monument to the Health Ministry in the 7th arrondissement (district).
Demonstrations also took place in a number of other French cities, including Annecy, Besançon, Saint-Ătienne and Rennes.
With infection rates rising and beds in intensive care units (ICU) rapidly filling up, health workers are demanding better salaries, improved working conditions and the hiring of more staff in order to respond to the outbreak.
âHospitals and other public institutions have been crumbling under exponential activity since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, without the necessary human and physical resources,â the General Confederation of Labour for Health and Social Work (CGT SantĂ© et Action Sociale) union said.
In the last week alone, the number of hospitalisations for coronavirus increased in France by 6,529, according to the latest figures from the government agency France Public Health (SantĂ© Publique France) â with 1,750 new patients admitted to the countryâs ICUs.
âOur caregivers are exhaustedâ
Thursdayâs demonstrations came a day after President Emmanuel Macron announced a number of new restrictions to contain the virusâs spread â including a 9pm to 6am curfew in Paris and eight other hotspots â while acknowledging the growing strain on the countryâs health services.
âThe virus is now everywhere in France⊠Our caregivers are exhausted, understandably so because they were on the frontline during the first wave, then had to reschedule all other care during the summer, and thereâs this second wave,â Macron said in an interview on national television. âConsequently, we donât have any beds in reserve, any hidden beds. Which is why we need to take the strictest measures to regain full control.â
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday that the government planned to accelerate its timeline to introduce the second half of a monthly âŹ183 pay increase for health workers from March 2021 to âbefore the end of the yearâ.
He added that any staff who postponed plans to leave during next weekâs All Saintâs holiday break would also receive a bonus of âŹ110-âŹ200 per day.
Yet for the hundreds of health workers who protested across the country on Thursday, the governmentâs efforts are not enough.
âThe situation in hospitals is even worse than the first wave, emergency services are overloaded,â Lionel le Plagneul, a medical representative who took part in protests in the western city of Rennes, told AFP.
Overall, there is currently a total of 809,684 confirmed coronavirus cases in France, making it the country with the second highest infection rate in Europe, behind Spain.