Key Points

In Week 44 (November 1–7, 2021), emergency department visits and subsequent hospitalizations decreased among children (-11%, or 10,827 fewer visits) and remained stable among adults. Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups rose for the third consecutive week (1,849 visits vs. 1,727 in Week 43, +7% or +122 visits). Both the overall activity level and the proportion of hospitalizations following visits across all age groups showed little change. The number of visits is up among those aged 75 and older (+15%, or +57 visits) and those aged 15–74 (+5%, or +46 visits), and stable among children. At the regional level, the sharpest increases are observed in the overseas territories: Réunion (+144%, or +13 visits) and Guadeloupe (+80%, or +12 visits). In mainland France, all regions are seeing an increase except for Corsica, Île-de-France, Grand Est, and Occitanie. Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 571,349 emergency room visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

In this second week of school break, seasonal respiratory indicators are declining among children, with the exception of bronchiolitis in children under 2 years of age, which remains stable but at a higher level than in previous years and is seeing an increase in hospitalizations following visits (+5%, or +76 hospitalizations). With the exception of influenza, all these indicators remain at a higher level than in previous years. Among adults, there has been an increase in visits for asthma attacks among those aged 75 and older (+16%, or +12 visits) and for ENT conditions (+8%, or +329 visits) and influenza (+8%, or +20 visits) among those aged 15–74. Only visits for ENT conditions and asthma attacks are at a higher level than those observed in previous years.

Almost all other indicators are trending downward; the only notable exception is the continued rise in conjunctivitis among those aged 15–74 (+38%, or +17 visits).