Key Points

In Week 04 (January 24–30, 2022), emergency department visits and subsequent hospitalizations remained stable across all age groups except for those aged 2–14, where slight increases were observed (up 3%, or 1,863 visits, and up 6%, or 280 hospitalizations, respectively). Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups are down again after stabilizing last week (14,540 vs. 16,244 visits, a decrease of 10% in Week 04 compared to a 4% increase in Week 03 and a 9% decrease in Week 02). In moderate terms, the share of activity is down (4.7% vs. 5.3% in W03), while the proportion of hospitalizations following visits is up (37% vs. 34% in W03). All age groups are affected by the decline, with the exception of a slight increase among those aged 75 and older (+4%, or +132 visits). Among adults, COVID-19 remains the third most common condition in emergency departments and the sixth most common among children. At the regional level, visits are stable or declining in all metropolitan regions and overseas territories, except for a slight increase in visits in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (+9%, or +105 visits). Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 693,725 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded. Nearly all other indicators are stable or declining across all age groups. However, it is noted that gastroenteritis continues its upward trend among children, both in terms of visits (+9%, or +512 visits) and hospitalizations (following visits and among all-cause hospitalizations), at levels significantly higher than in previous years. Visits for influenza/influenza-like illness are rising moderately (+8%, or +93 visits) among children and declining among adults (-13%).