Summary

This special regional epidemiological update on COVID-19 presents a summary of surveillance data collected by Santé publique France from its regional partners (see page 10 and Epidemiological Surveillance of COVID-19). It is based on an analysis of data through May 13, 2020, and complements the analysis conducted at the national level (Santé publique France website).

In week 19 (May 4–10), visits to primary care physicians for suspected COVID-19 and the positivity rate tended to stabilize compared to the previous week at the regional and departmental levels. Hospital admissions, reports from social and medical-social facilities, and mortality indicators continue to decline. Nevertheless, the persistence of new cases indicates that person-to-person transmission of the virus is continuing.

The continued circulation of the virus in the region requires a high level of vigilance regarding hygiene, protective measures, and physical distancing to minimize the emergence or persistence of transmission chains.

The lifting of lockdown measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resumption of normal daily activities are accompanied by a contact-tracing (CT) system.

The objectives of contact tracing are to minimize the spread of the virus from new cases, to detect and proactively break transmission chains as quickly as possible, and to identify potential clusters of cases for investigation and control.

In this context, the early detection of COVID-19 clusters (groups of cases) is a major challenge in controlling the spread of the virus, as rapid management allows for the earliest possible interruption of transmission chains between individuals, thereby preventing the onset of a new wave of the epidemic.

Any COVID-19 cluster (defined as the occurrence of at least 3 confirmed or probable cases within a 7-day period, belonging to the same community or having participated in the same gathering of people, whether they know each other or not) must be reported immediately to the ARS Occitanie focal point: ars31-alerte@ars.sante.fr.

This epidemiological update also presents
:- The initial results of surveillance among healthcare professionals. As of May 10, 2020, 81 facilities participated in the surveillance, and 1,196 cases were recorded (provisional data).
- The results of the survey tracking changes in behavior and mental health during lockdown (see page 9). For the latter, the results currently available (last updated on May 13) concern mental health, the adoption of protective measures against the epidemic, and changes in tobacco and alcohol use during lockdown (all information is available on the Santé publique France website here).