Key Points

In Week 38 (September 20–26, 2021), the third week after the start of the school year, emergency department visits increased among children (+7%, or 6,068 visits) and remained stable among adults; hospitalization rates remained stable for both children and adults. Visits for suspected COVID-19 across all age groups are down for the sixth consecutive week (-22% vs. -27% in Week 37). In total, there were 1,929 visits (vs. 2,474 in Week 37, a decrease of 545 visits), with a declining share of activity (0.6% vs. 0.8% in Week 37). This decline is observed across all age groups: under 2 years old: -25% (i.e., -16 visits), 2–14 years old: -19% (i.e., -19 visits), 15–74 years old: -24% (i.e., -449 visits), and 75 years and older: -14% (i.e., -61 visits). The proportion of hospitalizations following visits across all age groups remained stable (47% vs. 46% in Week 37). At the regional level, emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 are on the rise in French Guiana (+32%, or +39 visits) and declining in other regions. Since the start of surveillance on February 24, 2020, 561,229 emergency department visits for suspected COVID-19 have been recorded. Among children, three weeks after the start of the school year, ENT conditions are on the rise (+32%, or +2,679 visits). Among children under 2 years of age, there has been an increase in visits for bronchiolitis (+28%, or +235 visits), asthma (+15%, or +70 visits), vomiting (+14%, or +71 visits), and urinary tract infections (+13%, or +38 visits), as well as an increase in visits for isolated fever among 2- to 14-year-olds (+10%, or +175 visits). Among adults, there was an increase in visits for asthma among those aged 15–74 (+9%, or +106 visits) and for stroke among those aged 75 and older (+13%, or +174 visits).