Key points

In week 48, the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 continued to accelerate in metropolitan France, with sharp increases in new hospital and intensive care admissions.

• Metropolitan France:

  • Incidence rate higher than the peaks of the third and fourth waves

  • Incidence rate above 600 cases per 100,000 inhabitants among 30- to 39-year-olds and 900 among 6- to 10-year-olds

  • New hospital and intensive care admissions increasing in almost all regions

• Overseas France:

  • Reunion Island: rising incidence rate and new hospital admissions

  • Martinique: active circulation of the virus and an increase in hospital admissions

Variants

• Delta variant identified in more than 99% of sequenced samples in the Flash Survey from week 46 (November 15–17)

• 59 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in France as of 4 p.m. on December 9

• Moderate circulation of the B.1.640 variant across the country

Contact tracing

• Decrease in the proportion of cases being investigated (in week 47) due to the high incidence

• Fewer new cases linked to known transmission chains

Prevention

• Vaccination as of December 7, 2021 (COVID-19 vaccine data):

  • 77.7% of the French population had received at least one vaccine dose, and 76.1% were fully vaccinated

  • 51.4% of people aged 65 and older had received a booster shot, representing 76.4% of the eligible population in this age group

• Importance of combining measures: vaccines and booster shots, adherence to contact tracing, and compliance with preventive measures, notably by reducing social contacts and working from home