ICU faces constant pressure as France waffles over lockdown

A nurse tends to a patient suffering from COVID-19 in the ICU at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Bandages are discarded as nurses tend to an intubated patient suffering from COVID-19 in the ICU at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A nurse cleans a patient suffering from COVID-19 in the ICU at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Nurses transfer a sixteen-year-old patient suffering from COVID-19 into the ICU at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Nurses stand by as a sixteen-year-old patient is transfered into an ICU room at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

An intubated patient suffering from COVID-19 communicates with nurses by pointing to an alphabet in the ICU at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A sixteen-year-old patient suffering from COVID-19 rests after being transferred to an ICU room at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Nurses gather in the COVID-19 ICU at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Nurses tend to a patient suffering from COVID-19 in the ICU at the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. COVID patients occupy 88% of the Marseille region's intensive care beds, and virus pressure on French hospitals is steadily rising in recent weeks despite curfews and other restrictions. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)