Key Points

The epidemiological situation regarding COVID-19 in Occitanie shows no signs of worsening, but the high level of viral circulation and the predominance of the V1 variant encourage us to continue our efforts in enforcing preventive measures.

In week 08, COVID-19 syndromic surveillance indicators were decreasing at the regional level according to Sentinelles, stable in hospital emergency medicine within the Oscour® network, and slightly increasing according to data from the SOS Médecins associations. Departmental data were mixed for these last two data sources.

Regarding virological indicators, incidence rates were stable or decreasing in most departments, with the exception of Hérault, where they were increasing. These indicators remained at high levels across the entire region. Positivity rates were rising in most departments, particularly among those under 20 and those aged 30–64. Among the positive screening tests available in SI-DEP for the region, 62.5% corresponded to a suspected 20I/501Y.V1 (UK) variant (>50% for 7 departments).

Weekly numbers of new hospital admissions and admissions to intensive care units were decreasing compared to the previous week. In long-term care facilities (ESMS), the number of cases among residents and staff was decreasing, unlike the number of hospitalizations and deaths, which were increasing. Estimates of the effective reproduction number (R_eff) as of March 2 for Occitanie were below 1 for all three data sources analyzed (significantly so for SI-DEP and not significantly so for OSCOUR and SI-VIC). Regarding mortality data, the weekly number of deaths across all age groups observed in week 07 for Occitanie was decreasing. Nevertheless, it remained above expected values. The number of hospital deaths was decreasing at the regional level in week 08.

In week 08, virological indicators and healthcare utilization data for the region did not suggest a worsening of the epidemiological situation. Nevertheless, the increase in positivity rates, the high level of viral circulation, and the spread of new variants—particularly V1, which is now the dominant strain—require continued vigilance regarding the implementation of preventive measures.