Key Points

• In Week 35 (August 29–September 4, 2022), emergency department visits and subsequent hospitalizations remained stable across all age groups.

• Seasonal indicators are mostly stable or declining. In connection with the start of the school year, the few increases observed are mainly among children, with small numbers of cases. Notably, there was an increase in visits for asthma attacks among those under 15 (+25%, or +158 visits), also observed among those aged 15–74 (+9%, or +69 visits); for allergies among those under 15 and those aged 75 and older (+12% and +22%, or +81 visits and +23 visits, respectively); abdominal pain among 2- to 14-year-olds (+9%, or +169 visits), neurological disorders among children under 15 (+13%, or +73 visits), and bronchiolitis among children under 2 (+14%, or +35 visits).

• Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups have declined for the seventh consecutive week (1,843 vs. 2,252, representing a -18% decrease in Week 35 vs. -12% in Week 34) both nationally and regionally. The decline is driven equally by children (-20%, or -67 visits) and adults (-18%, or -442 visits). The proportion of activity as well as hospitalizations following visits are also down slightly. Since the start of surveillance on February 24, 2020, 866,724 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded.