Key Points

In Week 08 (February 21–27, 2022), emergency department visits and hospitalizations following such visits increased among 2- to 14-year-olds (+8%, or +4,651 visits, and +4%, or +223 hospitalizations) and remained stable in other age groups.

Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups continued to decline for the fifth consecutive week (4,305 vs. 6,059 visits, a decrease of 29% in Week 8 vs. 29% in Week 7). The share of activity is also down slightly (1.4% vs. 2% in W07). The proportion of hospitalizations following visits remains stable (47% vs. 48% in W07). This decline is observed across all age groups. Among those aged 75 and older, COVID-19 remains the 8th most common condition in emergency departments and the 9th most common among children under 2. At the regional level, visits are down in all regions. Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 726,876 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

Other indicators are stable or declining among children, with the exception of trauma (+20%, or +3,735 visits), linked to the start of the school year in Zone B. Among adults, indicators are mostly stable except for influenza/flu-like illness (+33%, or +199 visits), isolated fever (+8%, or +90 visits), asthma (+7%, or +57 visits), and acute bronchitis (+7%, or +45 visits).