Key Points

In Week 40 (October 4–10, 2021), emergency department visits and hospitalizations following such visits remained stable across all age groups except among children under 2 years of age (+7%, or 1,864 more visits, and +11%, or 355 more hospitalizations).

Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups continued to decline in all age groups (-15% vs. -22% in Week 39), with 1,297 visits recorded (vs. 1,527 in Week 39, a decrease of 230 visits) and a share of activity at 0.4% (vs. 0.5% in Week 39). The proportion of hospitalizations following visits across all age groups rose slightly to 48% (vs. 46% in Week 39). At the regional level, only two regions saw an increase: Corsica (+233%, or +7 visits) and the Pays de la Loire region (+17%, or +6 visits). Since the start of surveillance on February 24, 2020, 564,185 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

Seasonal respiratory indicators are all on the rise among children, particularly visits for cough (+17%), bronchitis (+10%, higher than in previous years), and bronchiolitis (+36%, accounting for 9% of activity (vs. 7% in Week 39), a level significantly higher than in previous years). Hospitalizations for bronchiolitis, up 38% (+183 hospitalizations), account for more than half of all hospitalizations following visits for any cause among children under two years of age. Among other indicators, note the increase in visits among children for gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting +17% and gastroenteritis +8% among children under 2) and for conjunctivitis (+10%).