Paris hospitals have begun airlifting patients to rural hosptials (Image: Getty ) Gilles Pialoux, Head of Infectious Diseases at a Paris hospital, added: “It’s considered a variant to investigate, it’s not in the same level as the South African variant. We need more information. “We need information to know if it’s more transmissible but it’s complicated because there are few cases.” France had resisted calls for a new lockdown as daily cases reach over 20,000. Hospitals in Paris have resorted to airlifting patients to rural medical facilities as their ICU wards reach capaci...