Summary

In Week 36 (August 31–September 6, 2020), emergency department visits and subsequent hospitalizations increased among children (up 14%, or 8,165 visits, and up 7%, or 395 hospitalizations, respectively) and remained stable among adults. Over the past week, the number of visits for suspected COVID-19 increased by 24% across all age groups (3,538 vs. 2,855 visits in Week 35—consolidated data as of September 8, 2020: 683 visits), specifically by +73% among children (+80 visits) and +22% among adults (+603 visits). The share of visits for COVID-19 in total activity across all age groups has risen slightly (1.3% in Week 36 vs. 1.0% in Week 35), while the proportion of hospitalizations following a visit remains stable at 31%. The increase is observed in all regions except Centre-Val de Loire, Grand-Est, French Guiana, and Réunion. The largest increases are observed in Brittany (+83%; +43 visits), Guadeloupe (+80%; +59 visits), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (+72%, or +210 visits), Hauts-de-France (+56%; +50 visits), and Normandy (+54%; +41 visits). Since monitoring began on February 24, 2020, 192,740 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded. Among seasonal indicators, there has been an increase in visits for asthma (+117%, or +764 visits) isolated fever (+14%, or +116 visits), trauma (+136%, or +2,170 visits), and ENT conditions—the second most common condition among the top 10 in emergency departments (+73%, or +1,371 visits). These increases are typically observed during the back-to-school period. However, the increase in visits for asthma appears to be more pronounced in 2020 than in the previous two years.