Summary

In Week 19 (May 4–10, 2020), emergency department visits and hospitalizations following such visits increased among children (up 17%, or 5,406 visits, and up 7%, or 306 hospitalizations) and among adults (up 9%, or 17,819 visits, and up 4%, or 2,245 hospitalizations).

Over the past week, 6,696 emergency department visits across all age groups for suspected COVID-19 were recorded (vs. 8,242 visits in Week 18—consolidated data—representing a 19% decrease). These visits accounted for 3% of total activity (vs. 5% in Week 18). The proportion of hospitalizations following visits was down slightly by 2% (37% vs. 39% in Week 18). By region, more than one-third of visits (36%) were observed in Île-de-France. Among the other regions, the most affected were Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (9% of visits), Grand Est (8%), and Hauts-de-France (8%). Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 141,470 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

Among other conditions seen in emergency departments, there was an increase in visits for:

• all ages: trauma (+24%, or +9,795 visits), isolated fever (+11%, or +262 visits), and allergies and conjunctivitis, both up by 22% (or +235 and +109 visits);

• among adults: stroke (+7%, or +179 visits), gastrointestinal symptoms (gastrointestinal conditions: +7%, nonspecific abdominal pain: +6%, and gastroenteritis: +25%), as well as for general malaise (+11%, or +666 visits). Also noteworthy is the increase in visits related to alcohol among those aged 45–64 (+27%, or +238 visits), the 9th most frequent cause of visits seen in S19 for this age group;

• among children: burns (+19%, or 63 visits).