Key points

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

• Metropolitan France:

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

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

• Overseas France: Réunion 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 (November 8–10)

• Eight confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in France as of December 2 at 4 p.m.

Contact tracing

• Lower proportion of new cases linked to known transmission chains

• Fewer people aged 65 and older among cases and contacts

Prevention

• November 30, 2021 (COVID-19 vaccine 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 and older had received a booster shot, representing 78.5% of the eligible population in this age group

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

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

  • 34% of people aged 65 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