Go to any hospital in the southern French city of Marseille and you will see the effect of the second wave of COVID-19.

The intensive care units are either full or close to saturation. More family capacity is badly needed but employment is a problem.

Hospitals here issued an urgent appeal for doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians from all over France to come to Marseille for help.

This is the scenario the United Kingdom desperately seeks to avoid.

At La Veran Military Hospital, doctors feared a return to the situation earlier this year when numbers overwhelmed health services.

The hospital is receiving civilian patients and most of the intensive care beds are now occupied by injured persons Covid-19. The hospital has turned an entire ward for less severe COVID patients.

Dr. Pierre Yves walks along the line of ICU bedroom doors, gesturing and saying, “This, that, that.”

These are the rooms where virus patients are isolated from others.

Protective clothing is required before we can enter it, and inside Dr. Pierre Yves tells me this is a 79-year-old woman critically ill.

She’s a diabetic who caught COVID over the summer – it’s thought at a family party.

She was placed on her stomach to help with breathing.

ICU care is a professional and logistical challenge, and Dr Pierre Yves tells me if those in breach of the city’s social distancing rules can come to the hospital and see what was happening, it will open their eyes.

He says this is a fatal disease, and it is time for everyone to finally start taking it seriously.

the number of Corona Virus Cases have increased day by day over the past month here in Marseille, which has led to tighter restrictions on its citizens.

Private meetings are limited to 10 people, bars and restaurants must close right after midnight, and masks are now a requirement in public places.

However, watch people pass along the harbor side and you’ll see many who decide to give up face masks. Many of them are young men – the age group is here to blame for sowing the seeds for the rapid spread of COVID.

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Sebastian Debiomon, Deputy Director of Regional Health Services, told me that the current situation is “difficult, worrying and dangerous”.

Like officials in other European cities, he is pointing an accusing finger at young people who have been socializing in recent months because the virus is now heading in the wrong direction.

He says that during that time people between the ages of 20 and 40 were the most affected, with few symptoms and few consequences, but mixed with older family members.

“Now, this age group is less affected than it was earlier in the summer, and now the older and more vulnerable generation is being struck,” he added.

“These people are the ones we see in the intensive care unit and in the hospital. The challenge is to make the younger generation understand that they have a responsibility towards themselves and above all others.”

Those who repeatedly violate the rules regarding face-covering and social gatherings in Marseille may now face fines of thousands of euros and several months in prison.

But Mr Debeaumont simply hopes people will take their personal role in the fight against COVID very seriously and has a message for the UK government and citizens if the second major wave is to be avoided.

“The lesson that must be learned from the first wave here is first of all, not to wait, take action, and find a balance between acceptable measures for everything that is effective,” he said.

“Wear a mask, wash your hands, and leave a distance. It is not something that is used to our culture, but it should be taken into account in our lives while this virus is active.”