Key points

In week 7, SARS-CoV-2 circulation indicators continued to improve, as did COVID-19 mortality rates, although indicators overall remained high.

• Metropolitan France:

  • Positivity and incidence rates were down in all age groups and in all regions

  • Hospital admissions fell in all regions except Corsica, where they remained stable.

  • Mortality remained high with over 1,500 deaths a week, but was decreasing

  Overseas France:

  • Virological indicators and hospital admissions declined but remained high on Réunion Island

Contact tracing

• A sharper decrease in the number of new cases (-40%) than in the number of at-risk contacts (-14%)

• Decrease in the proportion of contacts testing positive (13%, -4 percentage points)

Variants

• Omicron accounted for 99.5% of interpretable sequences in the Week 6 Flash Survey of February 7, 2022

• The BA-2 sublineage was increasing (16% in week 6, 10% in week 5, 5% in week 4)

Prevention

• Vaccination as of February 22, 2022 (COVID-19 vaccine data):

  • 79.2% of the total population had completed a primary vaccination series

  • 71.9% of the 18+ age group (representing 82.1% of those eligible) and 82.6% of the 65+ age group (90.9% of those eligible) had received a booster shot

• Importance of combining measures:

  • Complete the vaccination series with a booster shot after 3 months

  • Compliance with preventive measures, including wearing a mask and reducing contacts, along with other precautionary recommendations such as frequent ventilation of enclosed spaces, working from home, and adherence to contact tracing