Key Points

In Week 36 (September 6–12, 2021), the first week after the start of the school year, total activity at SOS Médecins clinics saw a sharp increase among children (+36%, or +4,727 visits). Medical procedures for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups, as well as their share of total activity, continued to decline for the seventh consecutive week (1,430 procedures vs. 1,638 in Week 35, a decrease of 13%). The share of activity was 2.1% (vs. 2.7% in Week 35). The decline continues among adults (-18%, or -245 cases), while among children (+16%, or +38 cases), following a week of stabilization, we are seeing an initial increase in this second week of the new school year. At the regional level, SOS Médecins medical procedures for suspected COVID-19 are stable or declining; only two regions are seeing an increase: Pays de la Loire (+29%, or +19 visits) and Île-de-France (+4%, or +7 visits). Since monitoring began on March 3, 2020, 245,006 medical procedures for suspected COVID-19 have been performed. Among other conditions, there has been an increase across all age groups in ENT conditions (+59% among children and +16% among adults), respiratory conditions including bronchitis (+92% among children and +11% among adults), and digestive conditions (37% among children and +10% among adults for gastroenteritis). Among children, an increase was observed in most indicators, most notably for bronchiolitis (+121% in children under 2 years old), asthma (+96%, or +183 procedures), malaise (+79%), viral syndrome (+46%), and isolated fever (+31%), and only among children under 2 years of age for chickenpox (+32%, or +12 cases). Among adults, there was an increase in cases of malaise (+10% among those aged 15–74) and deterioration in general health (+31% among those aged 75 or older).