Key Points

In Week 06 (February 7–13, 2022), emergency department visits and subsequent hospitalizations remained stable across all age groups. Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups are down for the third consecutive week (8,396 vs. 12,045 visits, representing a 30% decrease in Week 6 vs. a 17% decrease in Week 5). The share of activity is also down (2.7% vs. 3.8% in Week 5), while the proportion of hospitalizations following visits continues to rise (44% vs. 42% in Week 5). The decline is observed across all age groups: -34% (i.e., -2,624 visits) among those aged 2–74, -30% (i.e., -281 visits) among children under 2, and -22% (i.e., -742 visits) among those aged 75 and older. Among adults, COVID-19 has dropped to the 7th most common condition in emergency departments and the 10th among children (4th and 9th, respectively, in S05). At the regional level, visits are down in all regions. The declines range from -26% in Nouvelle-Aquitaine to -43% in Normandy. Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 714,699 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded. Among other indicators, visits for influenza/flu-like illness continue to rise among children (+9%, or +145 visits) and decline among adults (-9%, or -52 visits), though the proportion of hospitalizations among all-cause hospitalizations is increasing among those aged 15–74 (17% in S06 vs. 12% in S05). Also among children, the increase in visits for gastrointestinal symptoms, including gastroenteritis, continues (+12%, or +751 visits) and is accompanied by a continued rise in the proportion of hospitalizations among all-cause hospitalizations. Finally, note a slight increase in admissions for asthma (+7%, or +91 admissions) among 2- to 14-year-olds, within typical seasonal ranges. Activity for isolated fever remains stable among children but remains at a high level.