Summary

• In week 49 (November 30–December 6, 2020), visits to emergency departments and subsequent hospitalizations were down among 2- to 14-year-olds (-4%, or 1,667 fewer visits, and -6%, or 226 fewer hospitalizations), up among those aged 75 and older (+3%, or 1,538 more visits, and +2%, or 559 more hospitalizations), and stable in other age groups.

• In week 49, the decline in visits due to suspected COVID-19 continued, with a slight slowdown to -10% (i.e., -564 visits). This decline affects all age groups, with a more pronounced decrease among children (-30%, or -33 visits) than among adults (-10%, or -531 visits). In Week 49, suspected COVID-19 was the 7th most common diagnosis among those aged 15–74 but remained the 3rd most common among those aged 75 and older. In total, 4,889 visits were recorded in Week 49 (vs. 5,453 visits in Week 48—consolidated data as of 12/08/2020). The share of visits for COVID-19 in total activity declined very slightly to 2.2% (vs. 2.4% in Week 48), and the proportion of hospitalizations following a visit across all age groups remained stable at 55%. The decline is observed across all regions with the exception of Pays-de-la-Loire (249 visits in Week 49 vs. 205 in Week 48, i.e., +21%) and Occitanie (282 visits in Week 49 vs. 268 in Week 48, i.e., +5%). The decline is more pronounced in French Guiana (-57%), Normandy (-24%), Brittany (-23%), and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (-22%). Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 300,404 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

• Among other conditions, there was a slight increase in visits for respiratory and digestive conditions in children, although levels remain well below those of previous years for the same period, as well as for foreign bodies. Also noteworthy is a 9% increase in visits for cardiac decompensation among those aged 75 and older.