Key Points

In Week 05 (January 31 to February 6, 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 6%, or 3,412 visits, and up 7%, or 343 hospitalizations, respectively).

Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups are down for the second consecutive week (11,941 vs. 14,614 visits, a decrease of 18% in Week 5 vs. 9% in Week 4). The share of activity is also down (3.8% vs. 4.7% in W04), while the proportion of hospitalizations following visits continues to rise (42% vs. 37% in W04). The decline is observed across all age groups except for those aged 75 and older (stable at -2%): -32% (or -818 visits) among children under 15 and -20% (or -1,783 visits) among those aged 15–74. Among adults, COVID-19 has dropped to the 4th most common condition in emergency departments and the 9th among children (3rd and 6th, respectively, in S04). At the regional level, visits are down in all regions. The sharpest declines are observed in Île-de-France (-34%, or -696 visits) and Brittany (-38%, or -148 visits), as well as in the overseas departments and regions (DROM): Réunion (-31%, or -151 visits), Guadeloupe (-32%, or -18 visits), and French Guiana (-59%, or -64 visits). Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 706,053 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

Among other indicators, visits for influenza/flu-like illness are on the rise among children under 15 (+26%, or +306 visits) and adults (+10%, or +52 visits). There has also been an increase in visits for asthma (+13%, or +217 visits) and pneumonia (+23%, or +65 visits) among those under 15 years of age. Among children aged 2–14, visits for vomiting have increased moderately (+6%, or +630 visits), and visits for gastroenteritis continue to rise (+8%, or +232 visits), accounting for 8% of activity among children under 15 (vs. 4% in previous years).