Summary

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

The first confirmed cases of COVID-19 were recorded in week 09-2020 (February 24–March 1), and the peak of the epidemic occurred in week 13-2020 (March 23–29) in primary care and emergency settings. Since then, Covid-19 activity in primary care (SOS Médecins associations and general practitioners participating in the Sentinelles network) and in emergency care facilities has been declining, as has the rate of positive tests in private and hospital medical laboratories. The number of hospitalizations for Covid-19, admissions to intensive care units, and deaths reported by healthcare facilities is also declining. These decreases have confirmed the effectiveness of the lockdown and social distancing measures implemented starting March 17, 2020. As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, the virus is still present in the region.

What’s new in this Update for the region?

In week 19 of 2020 (May 4–10) and for the sixth consecutive week, the number of SOS Médecins consultations and emergency room visits for suspected COVID-19 continued to decline significantly in the region (by 11% and 23%, respectively). The number of new hospitalizations (down 18% compared to week 18 of 2020) and the number of new admissions to intensive care units (down 32%) are also declining for the fifth consecutive week. The healthcare system remains under heavy strain, however: Covid-19 activity in emergency departments is still close to the level seen during the week following the peak of the 2019-2020 seasonal flu epidemic, and 278 people were still hospitalized in intensive care as of May 13 (out of 471 intensive care beds under normal conditions). A slowdown in the spread of the virus is observed in all departments, but active transmission of the virus is still occurring in the region.
As of May 13, 3,191 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the region have died. Medical and non-medical facilities for the elderly in the region reported 1,707 deaths among their residents as of May 13, while other social and medical-social facilities reported 20 resident deaths. Furthermore, moderate excess mortality (+21%) was still observed in week 18 of 2020 in Meurthe-et-Moselle.