Key Points

COVID-19

• In week 33 (W33) [the week including the August 15 holiday], the rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases detected by RT-PCR testing remains low and is rising slightly, increasing from 8.04 in W32 to 11.2 per 100,000 inhabitants.

• The number of SOS Médecins calls and emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 also increased slightly (Figures 1 and 2), but activity remains low, and the proportion of hospitalizations following emergency department visits remains relatively stable (around 30%).

• In medical-social institutions (ESMS), surveillance of individual Covid-19 cases has been suspended since June 22, 2023, replaced by surveillance of clustered cases of acute respiratory infection (ARI). Between weeks 20 and 28, 5 outbreaks were reported in facilities in the region (between 0 and 2 outbreaks per week), 4 of which were attributable to COVID-19 (data not consolidated since August 6).

• The XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.9 recombinants co-circulated in roughly equal proportions in the region last July (representing fewer than 10 sequences, however). EG.5, which is a sublineage of XBB.1.9, has been added to the list of circulating variants (as case numbers are low, its proportion cannot be determined at this stage; the first detection occurred in S23—the week of June 5). To date, the WHO indicates that there is no evidence to suggest a change in the severity of EG.5.

Extreme heat, heat wave

• No unusual increase in activity at emergency departments (Figure 3) or SOS Médecins clinics.

• Activity indicators related to heat-related illnesses in emergency departments rose on August 19, the day when 7 departments in the region were placed under an ORANGE heat wave alert, and have remained generally stable since then.