Summary

In week 22 (May 31–June 6, 2021), emergency department visits increased across all age groups, most notably among those aged 2–14 and 15–74, with these two age groups also seeing a moderate rise in hospitalizations following visits, accounting for (respectively +3% and +4%, or +178 and +1,379 hospitalizations).

The decline in visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups continues, with the share of total activity remaining stable at a low level (2,563 vs. 3,262 visits in S21, or -21%, and 1% vs. 1.1% in S21). By age group, there is a marked decline among children under 2 years old (-50%, or -17 visits) and adults (-22%, or -683 visits), while visits among 2- to 14-year-olds remain stable. The proportion of hospitalizations following a visit across all age groups is stable (51% vs. 50% in S21). At the regional level, visits for suspected COVID-19 are declining in all metropolitan regions and in the overseas departments. Since the start of surveillance on February 24, 2020, 496,760 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

Among seasonal indicators linked to weather conditions, there has been an increase in visits across all age groups for hyperthermia/heatstroke (+186%, or +95 visits) and insect bites (+32%, or +238 visits), as well as for asthma (+21%, or +501 visits) and allergies (+11%, or +244 visits among those aged 2–74). Visits for chickenpox (+23%, or +46 visits) and viral meningitis (+42%) are on the rise across all age groups. Also linked to the season, there is an increase in visits for conjunctivitis among children (+45%, or +206 visits). Finally, among those aged 2–14 and 15–74, there was an increase in cases of general malaise (up 15%, or 90 more visits, and up 10%, or 643 more visits, respectively).