The war is still far from won. Despite the powerful waves of winter, then the arrival of spring and the rise in temperatures, the Covid-19 epidemic remains particularly virulent in France. In its weekly epidemiological bulletinpublished Thursday evening, Public Health France (SPF) affirms that the circulation of the virus is “still intense in all regions”.
In week 14 (from April 4 to 10), 135,000 new contaminations were recorded on average in the territory. Despite a stabilization compared to the previous week, and a drop among the youngest, “this rate remained slightly up among those aged 50 and over, particularly among those aged 60-69 (1,295, +7%) and 70-79 years old (1,448, +6%)”, says the public health agency. “In addition, it remained above 1,000/100,000 in all age groups, with the exception of those under 10. Those aged 30-39 (1,690, -1%) and those aged 40-49 (1,721, -4%) still had the highest rates.”
This dynamic has a consequence on hospital admissions, “always at a high level”, also comments Public Health France.
Hospitalizations still at a high level in France
The Express
To access all the numbers in the infographic, Click here.
In metropolitan France, all regions are thus experiencing an increase in the number of patients with Covid-19. On average, there were 15% more people hospitalized on Thursday April 14, compared to March 31, two weeks earlier. Normandy is the most affected region, hosting more than 1,720 patients on April 14, against 1,415 on March 31, an increase of nearly 21.5%.
The evolution of the number of people hospitalized by region
The Express
To access all the numbers in the infographic, Click here.
“We are still in the middle of this pandemic”
Beyond the rebound in contaminations observed with the BA.2 variant (Omicron family), the increase in hospitalizations is also explained, as during the fifth wave, by a large proportion of patients hospitalized with Covid, and not specifically for disease. Their number, however, remained stable in week 14, indicates Public Health France, “for hospitalizations for all services (39%), hospitalizations in critical care (32%) and hospitalizations in intensive care (26%).”
Is a lull possible in the next few weeks? The admissions figures are much more nuanced. Normandy (+11% admissions between week 13 and week 14) or even Centre-Val de Loire (+8%) and Corsica (+25.7%) should remain under tension. Conversely, Aquitaine and Occitanie, with respectively -14% and -11.7%, could see their situation improve.
The evolution of hospital admissions in France between week 13 and week 14
The Express
To access all the numbers in the infographic, Click here.
More broadly, the World Health Organization (WHO), warns: the virus “does not yet fully follow a temporal rhythm, or a seasonal pattern, (…) and the disease therefore remains quite volatile”, has said Michael Ryan, the WHO’s emergency manager, on Thursday. “We are still in the middle of this pandemic, we all wish it weren’t, but we are not at an endemic stage,” WHO Covid chief Maria Van Kerkhove warned. .