SHARE
COPY LINK

CHIRAC

Former president Chirac still in hospital but wife home

Former French president Jacques Chirac remains in hospital in Paris where he is being treated for a lung infection, while his wife Bernadette has been discharged after four days recovering from "exhaustion", their family said Saturday.

Former president Chirac still in hospital but wife home
Bernadette Chirac executes a deal at the French Stock Exchange on September 12. Photo: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP
“After four days of treatment and rest, Bernadette Chirac left the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital Friday evening,” their son-in-law Frederic Salat-Baroux told AFP.
 
Jacques Chirac, 83, who was admitted to the hospital on September 18, “remains hospitalised and continues to receive treatment and care for his lung infection,” said Salat-Baroux, husband of Chirac's daughter Claude.
 
Chirac, who led France from 1995-2007, had just returned from a visit to Morocco with his wife when he was admitted to hospital.
 
On Wednesday, Salat-Baroux said Bernadette Chirac, also 83, had been admitted to the same facility.
   
He said she was “profoundly affected by the death of her eldest daughter Laurence (in April) and exhausted for several days following the lung infection of her husband.”
   
The centre-right Chirac, who served two terms as head of state, is probably best remembered internationally for his opposition to the US military intervention in Iraq in 2003.
   
A small stroke while in office in 2005 weakened him, and he is now rarely seen in public.
   
In December 2015, he spent two weeks in hospital, suffering from what his family described as fatigue.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

STATISTICS

Norway saw fewer hospital patients in 2020 despite pandemic

Fewer patients were treated in hospital in 2020 than in 2019, with Covid-19 being the reason for the drop, according to Statistics Norway.

Norway saw fewer hospital patients in 2020 despite pandemic
Illustration photo by Audun Braastad / AFP)

The decline in patients has been largest for those awaiting planned treatments, but the number of people requiring immediate attention also dropped too, according to Statistics Norway figures.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals had to prioritise differently in 2020 as a result of the increased need for intensive care units.

“2020 was a year marked by pandemics and restrictions. In many places hospitals have had to prioritise differently due to the coronavirus, and perhaps particularly as the result of the increased need for intensive care,” the report said.

This has contributed to a decrease in the number of patients in hospitals at all levels of care.

The number of patients with 24-hour stays decreased by 7 percent. The total number of days spent in hospital fell by 11 percent or 380,000 fewer days in a hospital bed in 2020 compared to 2019.

Hospital stays lasting at least 24 hours include both planned and unplanned visits. In 2020 planned visits accounted for 29 percent of all visits, which is a decrease of 16 percent from the previous year, while visits for immediate appointments decreased by 3 percent.

READ ALSO: Norwegian senior medic calls for geographical division of Covid-19 restrictions

The figures show a decline for almost all diagnostic groups, but cancer patients had a smaller decline than other groups.

Planned treatment of various forms of cancer decreased by 8 percent, but acute help for tumours saw an increase of 11 percent.

This reverses a trend of numbers of patients in hospitals increasing year on year. The increases had primarily been driven by patients at outpatient clinics.

SHOW COMMENTS