Key Points

In Week 45 (November 8–14, 2021), emergency department visits and subsequent hospitalizations remained stable or declined across all age groups except for those aged 2–14 (+14%, or 7,430 more visits, and +15%, or 611 more hospitalizations).

Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups continued to rise for the fourth consecutive week (2,340 visits vs. 1,900 in Week 44, +23% or +440 visits). This increase was observed across all age groups, most notably among those aged 15–74. The share of activity and the proportion of hospitalizations following visits across all age groups remain stable (at 0.76% and 52%, respectively). At the regional level, visits continue to rise sharply in Réunion (+145%, or +32 visits), while they remain stable in Guadeloupe. In mainland France, nearly all regions are seeing an increase, with the exception of Corsica and the Pays-de-la-Loire. Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 573,657 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

After several weeks of increases, seasonal indicators are stable or declining, with the exception of visits for influenza/flu-like illness among children (+33%, or +19 visits) and for gastroenteritis among those aged 2–14 (+15%, or +313 visits) and those aged 75 and older (+19%, or +29 visits). Compared to previous years, the levels observed remain higher for ENT conditions and acute bronchitis across all age groups, as well as for bronchiolitis, gastroenteritis, and conjunctivitis among children. There was also a sharp increase in visits for trauma among 2- to 14-year-olds (+29%, or +4,091 visits; first week back to school) and, to a lesser extent, for vomiting (+15%) among children under 15 and general malaise (+29%) among 2- to 14-year-olds. Among other indicators, the few increases observed relate to acute abdominal pain among 2- to 14-year-olds (+32%).