Summary

In week 50 (December 7–13, 2020), emergency department visits rose slightly among children (+5.2%, or +2,931 visits) and remained stable among adults. Hospitalizations following visits remained stable across all age groups. In Week 50, visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups continued to decline, though at a slower rate than the previous week. They decreased slightly among adults (-6%, or -297 visits), while an increase was observed among children (+14%, or +11 visits). In Week 50, suspected COVID-19 was the 7th most common diagnosis among those aged 15–74 and the 6th most common among those aged 75 and older (3rd in Week 49). In total, 4,616 visits were recorded in Week 50 (vs. 4,902 visits in Week 49—consolidated data as of 12/15/2020, a decrease of 6%). The share of visits for COVID-19 in total activity is down very slightly to 2.0% (vs. 2.2% in Week 49), and the proportion of hospitalizations following a visit across all age groups remains stable at 55%. At the regional level, visits for suspected COVID-19 are up in Brittany (+80%, or 91 more visits), Grand-Est (+5%, or 26 more visits), Pays de la Loire (+4.4%, or 11 more visits), and French Guiana (+233%, or 14 more visits); they are stable in Hauts-de-France and Normandy and down in the other regions. The declines range from -4% in Nouvelle-Aquitaine to -40% in Corsica and -52% in Réunion. Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 305,748 emergency room visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded. Among other conditions, the main trend is an increase in most seasonal illnesses (with the exception of influenza): ENT conditions and bronchitis in adults and children (up 11% and 8%, respectively, across all age groups); bronchiolitis in children under 2 years of age (up 9%); vomiting and gastroenteritis in children (+21% and +23%). For all these conditions, the observed levels remain significantly lower than in previous years for the same period; notably, visits for bronchiolitis accounted for 4% of activity among children under 2 in 2020, compared to 20% in 2018 and 2019 for the same period.