Key Points

In Week 03 (January 17–23, 2022), emergency department visits increased among children (+8%, or 6,085 visits) and remained stable among adults. Hospitalizations remained stable.

After a week of decline, visits for suspected COVID-19 remained stable across all age groups (15,970 vs. 15,502 visits, or +3% in Week 3 vs. -9% in Week 2 and +16% in Week 1). The share of activity and the proportion of hospitalizations following visits remained stable (5% and 34%, respectively). With the exception of those aged 75 and older, who saw a sharp increase in visits (+20%, or +518 visits), other age groups show a deceleration in the rise among children (+16% vs. +32% in S02) and stabilization among those aged 15–74 (-4%). Among adults, COVID-19 remains the second most common condition in emergency departments and the sixth most common among children. At the regional level, many regions in mainland France are still seeing increases, including Pays de la Loire (+23%, or +91 visits), Grand-Est (+18%, or +170 visits), Nouvelle-Aquitaine (+13%, or +127 visits), Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (+12%, or 86 more visits), and Occitanie (+12%, or 137 more visits). Decreases are concentrated in the Île-de-France region (-22%, or 740 fewer visits) and in the overseas territories: Mayotte (-85%, or 11 fewer visits), French Guiana (-31%, or -72 visits) and Guadeloupe (-24%, or -26
visits), with the exception of Réunion (+35%, or +160 visits). Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 678,530 emergency room visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

Most indicators are on the rise among children, particularly those aged 2–14. The indicators for vomiting and gastroenteritis (+9%) remain at levels higher than those observed in previous years (visits and hospitalizations). There has been an increase in visits for general malaise (+17%, or +111 visits) and isolated fever (+12% among children under 2 years of age, or +273 visits). Finally, there has been a slight increase in visits for respiratory conditions (asthma, influenza/flu-like syndrome +10%, acute
bronchitis), though these have not yet returned to the levels seen before the school holidays. Bronchiolitis continues to decline (-6%).