“It’s getting better”, the end of the mask and the reduction of the “mid-March” pass?

COVID. The decline in the coronavirus epidemic in France gives Olivier Véran hope for a reduction in the vaccine pass and the abandonment of the mask in several places by mid-March this Wednesday. Today also begins a new stage in the calendar for the lifting of health restrictions.

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Here is the latest assessment of the coronavirus in France according to data updated daily by Public Health France and available on Data.gouv. Figures as of February 15, 2022:

• 142,253 confirmed cases in 24 hours, 93,014 less than last Tuesday
• 135,579 deaths since the start of the epidemic (Ehpad included), i.e. 390 more
• 107,670 hospital deaths, 301 more in 24 hours
• 27,909 deaths in nursing homes, 89 more since the last update
• 31,091 people currently hospitalized, 441 fewer
• 3,235 people currently in intensive care, i.e. 61 fewer
• 2,454 new hospital admissions (+239) and 291 in intensive care (-20)
• 546,183 people discharged from hospital, i.e. 2,536 more
• Test positivity rate: 28.27%, i.e. 0.52 point(s) less
• Incidence rate: 1393.39 cases/100,000, i.e. 95.95 point(s) less

The figures from Public Health France are to be qualified. A distinction must be made between patients hospitalized for Covid-19 and with Covid-19 (the figures currently given). The same goes for deaths: if, for example, Public Health France (SPF) reports 5,000 deaths of people positive for the coronavirus in France between December 1, 2021 and January 9, 2022, including 383 attributed to the Omicron variant, these figures are at observe with caution, indicates Release. Indeed, over the period from January 10 to 16 alone, 26% of patients positive for Covid-19 had been admitted for a pathology other than Sars-CoV-2. 13% of Covid-19 positive people admitted to critical care and 8% of positive people admitted to intensive care are in the same situation.

According to last epidemiological point of Public Health France (SPF), published Thursday February 10, “the slowdown in the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 has been confirmed on the territory and has been accompanied by a drop in new hospital admissions” in week 05 (January 31-February 6). Yet “the indicators remained high”.

• In mainland France, the incidence rate corrected decreases in all regions in week 05 and goes to 2,449 positive cases per 100,000 inhabitants (compared to 3,469 in S04, i.e. -29%). It had decreased in all age groups, mainly among those under 60 years, where the decline exceeded 20%.The incidence rate remained highest among 10-19 year olds (3,950, -37%).In addition, the screening rate was down for the fourth consecutive week ( 7,476/100,000, -26%).This decrease concerned all age groups, in particular those under 60. Those aged 10-19 again had the highest rate (9,786, -33%). The positivity rate was down for the first time after a 16-week rise (32.8%, -1.6 points) – but up among people aged 60 and over.
• The number of new cases diagnosed per day also increases sharply. In S05, there were still more than 234,800 cases on average per day. The effective reproduction rate of the virus has fallen and was evaluated, in S04, at 77. The test positivity rate was also down (32.8%, against 34.4% in S04, i.e. -1, 6 point).
• The number of new hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients fell in S04. The indicators by date of admission reported 15,103 new hospitalizations of patients with Covid-19 in S05 (compared to 17,832 in S04, a decrease of 15%). In S05, there were 1,762 new critical care admissions of Covid patients, compared to 1,955 in S04 (i.e. -10%).
• The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is still the majority in France in S05, suspected and confirmed in 98.8% of the interpretable sequence screening tests of the Flash investigation in S05 (preliminary data). The BA.2 sub-lineage, a sub-variant of the Omicron mutation, remained a minority but on the increase (5.4% on 01/24 against 1.9% on 01/17).
• Vaccination against Covid-19 is still progressing: as of February 8, 2022, 78.9% of the total population had received a complete primary vaccination. 69.3% of those aged 18 and over had received a booster dose (79.4% among those eligible) and 82.3% among those aged 65 and over (90.3% among those eligible).

Follow the evolution of the coronavirus in your municipality thanks to the map below. Click on a department to display the list of municipalities. Also find all the details on this mapping and the complete point by city and by department in our article on the Covid map in France.

Since mid-October 2020, Public Health France has been communicating incidence data (number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants) at municipal level. The figures are at this stage communicated according to a scale (10, 20, 50, 150, 250, 500, 1000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). The data is expressed over a rolling week, which means that it is calculated on a D-day from tests carried out between 3 and 9 days previously. To access information relating to the coronavirus in your municipality, enter its name in the search engine or click on its department in the map below.

As a reminder, the incidence rate corresponds to the number of new cases of Covid-19 over a period of one week, compared to the total population of a territory (country, region, department or municipality). This indicator is generally expressed as the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The screening rate gives the number of people having carried out a screening test for the coronavirus out of the total number of inhabitants, during the period. It is also most often expressed per 100,000 inhabitants. Finally, the test positivity rate gives the percentage of positive tests for the coronavirus, compared to the total number of tests carried out over the period.