Key points

In week 49, the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 continued to increase, with hospital indicators again reflecting a rise.

• Metropolitan France:

  • Incidence rate above the peaks of the second, third, and fourth waves

  • Highest incidence rate among 6-10 year-olds (>1,000/ 100,000) followed by 11-14 and 30-39 year-olds (>700)

  • New hospital and intensive care admissions at levels below the first three waves but rising in the majority of regions

• Overseas France: incidence rate and hospitalisations increasing in Reunion Island

Variants

• Flash Survey from week 48 (29 November): Delta variant identified in 99% of sequenced samples

• 310 confirmed cases of Omicron variant in France as of 4 pm on 16 December

• Moderate circulation of the B.1.640 variant across the country

Contact tracing

Adaptation of the contact tracing programme to deal with the very high number of new cases: indicators to be interpreted with caution.

Prevention

• CoviPrev Survey (wave 30, 30 November-7 December):

  • Overwhelming majority of adults in support of vaccination, including the booster (90%)

  • 94% of vaccinated people intend to be tested if they are a contact of a positive case versus 74% of unvaccinated people

  • Better adherence to preventive measures

• Vaccination on 14 December 2021 (Vaccin Covid data):

  • 78.0% of the French population had received at least one vaccine dose, and 76.4% were fully vaccinated

  • 60.5% of people aged 65 years and older had received a booster shot, representing 82.0% of the eligible population in this age group

• Importance of combining measures: vaccine and booster dose for the eligible population, adherence to contact tracing, and respect of preventive measures to preserve the healthcare system