Key Points

What is currently known about the situation in the Grand Est region?

The Grand Est region recorded its first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in week 9 of 2020 (February 24–March 1), and the peak of the outbreak occurred in week 13 of 2020 (March 23–29), with 4,116 emergency room visits for suspected COVID-19 (six times the activity typically seen for influenza and flu-like illness during the peak week of a typical flu season) and 1,494 consultations at the region’s five SOS Médecins clinics. The number of hospital admissions for COVID-19 peaked in week 14 of 2020 (March 30–April 5) with 3,777 new hospitalizations, including 648 in intensive care (compared to a capacity of 471 ICU beds under normal conditions). That week, the region also recorded a record-high excess mortality across all medical causes, with a 116% increase in excess mortality compared to the same period in previous years. General lockdown measures helped drive down all epidemiological surveillance indicators: COVID-19 activity in urban areas (SOS Médecins associations and general practitioners participating in the Sentinelles network) and in emergency departments, testing activity in private and hospital clinical laboratories, hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care units for COVID-19, and COVID-19-related deaths reported by healthcare facilities. After several weeks characterized by very low viral circulation, the deterioration in surveillance indicators, which began in week 29, continued into week 33 of 2020, returning to the levels recorded at the time of the lifting of lockdown measures.

What’s new for the region?

In week 33 of 2020 (August 10–16), testing activity increased slightly compared to the previous week, with 44,871 RT-PCR tests performed. The number of new biologically confirmed cases stands at 667 (+23% compared to the previous week), the highest number observed since the lifting of lockdown measures (616 new infections in week 21 of 2020). The regional incidence rate (12.1 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants) continued to rise in week 33 of 2020 compared to week 32 of 2020 (542 new cases, with an incidence of 9.8 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants) and has now exceeded the alert threshold (10 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants). However, it remains significantly lower than the rate observed at the national level (25.2 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants). Three-quarters (73.5%) of new cases in week 33-2020 are under the age of 50 (45% are aged 20–39), 40% are asymptomatic, 37% are symptomatic, and for 23%, the information is not
specified. In week 33 of 2020, the health situation is deteriorating in nearly all departments in the region: the incidence rate is rising in eight of them: the Ardennes (5.3 per 100,000 inhabitants), Aube (12.3 per 100,000 inhabitants), Marne (13.1 per 100,000 inhabitants), Meuse (9.9 per 100,000 inhabitants), Moselle (13.4 per 100,000 inhabitants), Bas-Rhin (12.7 per 100,000 inhabitants), Haut-Rhin (11.1 per 100,000 inhabitants), and Vosges (12.8 per 100,000 inhabitants). It exceeds the alert threshold of 10 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven departments and is approaching it in Meuse. In contrast, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, the incidence rate is declining (13.8 per 100,000 inhabitants). Given the worsening health situation, it remains essential that everyone adhere to preventive measures and social distancing at all times and under all circumstances to halt this deterioration.
The rate of in-person and telemedicine consultations for acute respiratory infections (ARI) reported by the Sentinelles network has decreased (2 per 100,000 residents in week 33 of 2020, compared to 10 per 100,000 residents in week 32 of 2020). However, the number of consultations for suspected COVID-19 at the region’s five SOS Médecins associations remains stable (138 compared to 130 the previous week). The number of emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 at the region’s healthcare facilities has increased slightly (103 visits compared to 93). In week 33 of 2020, the number of new hospitalizations (n=65) increased slightly compared to week 32 of 2020 (n=39). The number of new admissions to intensive care units remained stable compared to the previous week.

As of August 19, 97 clusters or episodes of grouped cases have been identified in the region since May 11 (11 more than the previous week), of which 23 are currently under investigation. No uncontrolled community spread (occurrence of new cases outside the cluster and linked to it) has been reported.