Key Points

In Week 49 (December 6–12, 2021), emergency department visits and hospitalizations following visits remained stable across all age groups. The levels of visits and hospitalizations among children under 2 years of age remain higher than in previous years. Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups continued to rise for the seventh consecutive week (7,623 vs. 6,382 visits in Week 48, +19%). This increase was observed in all age groups except for children under 2 years of age (stable). The share of activity continues to rise (2.4% vs. 2.0% in Week 48), while the proportion of hospitalizations following visits remains stable at 50%. Among adults, COVID-19 is the 6th (ages 15–74) and 7th (ages 75 and older) most common condition in emergency departments. Visits are on the rise in all regions except Corsica, Pays de la Loire, and Guadeloupe. The sharpest increases are observed in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (+35%, or +123 visits), PACA (+34%, or +201 visits), Brittany (+28%, or +28 visits), and Île-de-France (+25%, or +288 visits). Since the start of surveillance on February 24, 2020, 596,016 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded. Seasonal indicators are mostly stable or declining among both adults and children. Bronchiolitis is declining for the first time since the end of the All Saints’ Day school break. However, there has been an increase in visits for influenza/flu-like illness (+65%, or +283 visits) among children and, to a lesser extent, for gastroenteritis among 2- to 14-year-olds (+7%, or +240 visits) and vomiting among children under 2 years of age (+6%, or +45 visits), with levels higher than in previous years. Among 2- to 14-year-olds and 15- to 74-year-olds, visits for isolated fever (+20% and +9%, or +434 and +74 visits, respectively) are also on the rise, as are visits for bronchitis among those aged 75 and older (+34%, or +82 visits).