Key Points

• In Week 01 (January 4–10, 2021), epidemiological surveillance indicators (virological, primary care, and hospital data) showed an increase in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

• This trend follows the holiday season and year-end festive gatherings.

• Furthermore, the emergence of variants of the virus, which are believed to be more transmissible, could lead to an acceleration in the spread of the virus in the coming weeks.

Update on cases of emerging variants

• In December 2020, two new variants of SARS-CoV-2 were detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa. On January 9, 2021, a new variant, B.1.1.2.8., which emerged in Brazil, was also reported to the WHO. No cases of infection with the new B.1.1.2.8. variant have been reported in France to date.

• As of January 13, 2021, 66 cases of infection with the VOC 202012/01 variant (identified in the United Kingdom) and three cases of infection with the 501Y.V2 variant (identified in South Africa) have been confirmed in mainland France. These cases have been identified in various regions. This situation is likely to change, and it is probable that the spread of these variants within the country is currently underestimated.

• Preliminary results from the Flash Variant survey conducted on January 7 and 8, 2021, on SARS-CoV-2-positive RT-PCR tests showed that COVID-19 cases linked to the VOC 202012/01 variant account for 1.4% of cases currently recorded in France, or approximately 1,800 cases per week. These COVID-19 cases linked to the British variant appear to be distributed unevenly across mainland France.

See the press release Genomic surveillance and investigation: pillars of the strategy to combat the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants
See the National Epidemiological Update of January 14, 2021

The Île-de-France region, with a proportion of discordant PCR results of 5.7% and an expected proportion of VOC 202012/01 between 2% and 3%, ranks third among affected regions behind Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Pays-de-Loire. This analysis should be interpreted with caution due to varying laboratory participation across regions. This survey will be repeated at regular intervals, and the results of this first edition still need to be consolidated.