Key Points

In Week 39 (September 27–October 3, 2021), emergency department visits remained stable across all age groups except for children under 2 years of age (+8%, or 1,966 visits). Hospitalizations following emergency department visits were stable or declining across all age groups.

Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups continued to decline (-23% vs. -21% in Week 38), with 1,496 visits recorded (vs. 1,948 in Week 38, a decrease of 452 visits) and a share of activity at 0.5% (vs. 0.6% in Week 38). The proportion of hospitalizations following visits across all age groups is also down to 46% (vs. 48% in Week 38). At the regional level, emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 are stable or declining in all regions. Since the start of surveillance on February 24, 2020, 562,693 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.

Seasonal respiratory indicators are on the rise, notably acute bronchitis (+22%, or +289 visits) and pneumonia (+13%, or +368 visits) across all age groups, bronchiolitis (+23%, or +249 visits) among children under 2 years of age, asthma (+15%, or +205 visits), and ENT conditions (+10%, or +346 visits) among those aged 15 and older. Furthermore, the number of visits for bronchiolitis was higher than in the previous three years. There was also an increase in visits for conjunctivitis (+10%, or +51 visits) among those aged 15–74 and for heart failure (+12%, or +163 visits) among those aged 75 and older.