As the hospital reached a saturation point, coronavirus patients in Hauts-de-France, the northernmost region of northern France, were transferred to Belgium.
The Regional Health Service (ARS) said that facilities in some towns and cities in Belgium have provided intensive care beds to ease the pressure on the overcrowded hospitals in France.
ARS said in a statement: “These transfers will involve Belgian border hospitals, which have signed cross-border agreements with French hospitals.”
Patients from the regional capital of Lille and other regions will be transferred in the next few days, depending on the available capacity, the patient’s eligibility, and the consent of the family.
The first transfer was to see the patient from Dunkirk, 10 kilometers from the border, and was sent to Furnes in West Flanders Province.