Key points

In week 47, another sharp rise in SARS-CoV-2 was observed metropolitan France, along with a surge in new hospital and intensive care admissions.

• Metropolitan France:

  • Incidence rate above 300/100,000 inhabitants among those under 50 years (>600 among 6-10 year-olds)

  • New hospital and intensive care admissions increasing in almost all regions

• Overseas France: Reunion Island: continued high incidence rate with intensive care admissions slightly increasing

Variants

• Delta variant identified in more than 99% of sequenced samples in the Flash Survey from week 45 (8-10 November)

• Eight confirmed cases of Omicron variant in France as of 2 December at 4 pm

Contact tracing

• Lower proportion of new cases linked to known transmission chains

• Fewer people aged 65 years and over among cases and contacts

Prevention

• 30 November 2021 (Vaccin Covid data):

  • 77.4% of the French population had received at least one vaccine dose, and 75.8% were fully vaccinated

  • 42.9% of people aged 65 years and older had received a booster shot, representing 78.5% of the eligible population in this age group

• Severe cases hospitalised in intensive care between 1 September and 30 November:

  • 76% of people under 65 years were unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated

  • 34% of people aged 65 years and older were vaccinated but only 1.4% had received a booster dose

• Importance of combining measures: vaccination, including the booster shot for the eligible population, contact tracing, and preventive measures