ZCZC
BFF-16
HEALTH-VIRUS-FRANCE-MEDICS-TRANSPORT
French health workers to get free rail travel
PARIS, March 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – French health workers will get free
transport on the country’s high-speed and intercity trains, France’s state
rail operator the SNCF announced on Monday.
The rail operator was responding to an appeal by Paris hospitals for
people with medical or paramedical training to come and reinforce their
staff.
Doctors, nurses and other medical staff will be able to travel for free to
help in the fight against the virus, if they get the relevant documentation
from their managers, said the head of SNCF Voyages, Alain Krakovitch.
The announcement came a day after the official death toll in France rose
to 674, with the first doctor battling the outbreak succumbed to the virus.
With hospitals already overwhelmed with 7,240 cases, the military has
stepped in to transfer patients from the worst-hit regions, and set up field
hospitals in some areas.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1224 hrs