Summary

In Week 33 (August 16–22, 2021), emergency department visits and subsequent hospitalizations decreased among children under 2 years of age (down 3%, or 578 visits, and down 6%, or 146 hospitalizations, respectively) and remained stable among children aged 2–14 and those aged 15 and older.

Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups declined after seven consecutive weeks of increases (-9% vs. +13% in Week 32, +19% in Week 31, and +45% in Week 30). In total, there were 6,994 visits (vs. 7,724 in Week 32, a decrease of 730 visits) with a slight decline in the share of activity (2.3% vs. 2.5% in Week 32). This decline is primarily observed among those aged 2–14 (-6%, or -11 visits), those aged 15–74 (-10%, or -602 visits), and those aged 75 and older (-11%, or -122 visits). Among children under 2, visits are stable (+3%, or +5 visits). The proportion of hospitalizations following visits across all age groups rose slightly to 46% (vs. 43% in Week 32). At the regional level, emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 are stable or declining in all regions except Brittany (+25%, or +25 visits) and Pays-de-la-Loire (+17%, or +25 visits). Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 537,761 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

Seasonal indicators are once again on the decline, with observed levels similar to or even lower than those of previous years. There are rare increases with moderate numbers for trauma among children under 2 years of age (+8%, or +192 visits), asthma among 2- to 14-year-olds (+8%, or +39 visits), dehydration among children under 15 (+22%, or +15 visits), and chickenpox among 15- to 74-year-olds (+57%, or +8 visits).

Among the most common conditions, there was an increase in visits for gastroenteritis (+13%, or +330 visits), abdominal pain (+10%, or +328 visits), and skin conditions (+11%, or +149 visits) among children, and for ENT infections (+11%, or +388 visits) among adults.