2023-08-18 17:00:29
At the counters of pharmacies, in medical offices and on the street, the fear of an epidemic resumption has made a comeback. Three and a half years into the pandemic, Covid-19 cases are said to be on the rise. Between August 7 and August 13, the incidence rate of the virus, i.e. the number of cases diagnosed per week per 100,000 inhabitants, increased by 60%, from 7.7 to 12.3, according to the latest data from Public health France, published Friday, August 18. If this increase, observed in all age groups, “requires vigilance”it is nonetheless limited, reassures the agency in its latest bulletin.
Since the beginning of August, and with the start of the new school year approaching, France has been experiencing a resumption of the Covid-19 epidemic. At least that’s what epidemiologist Mircea Sofonea said on Friday August 10 in the columns of the Parisian. Among the hypotheses put forward to explain this sudden rise in cases, the summer period – more conducive to gatherings – and the immune decline within the population, whose last vaccination against the virus often dates back several months. The emergence of a new dominant variant, spotted in February and baptized Eris, would also have its role to play.
The first data from Public Health France, published on Friday August 11, attested to a “slight increase in indicators”, a far cry from the figures recorded during previous waves of the Covid-19 epidemic. A trend confirmed by the agency, Friday August 18, in its new epidemiological bulletin.
Cases on the rise everywhere in France
According to figures from Public Health France, 1,547 emergency visits for suspected Covid-19 were recorded between August 7 and 13, or 58% more than the previous week. The proportion of hospitalization after a visit to the emergency room has remained stable. On the side of SOS Médecins, medical acts for possible Covid-19 contamination have increased by 34%. On the rise, these figures nevertheless remain “at low levels compared to observed levels” these last years, tempers Public Health France.
According to this latest bulletin, all regions, in particular tourist regions, are affected by this slight epidemic recovery. Nevertheless, Île-de-France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes are those which concentrate “most lab-confirmed positive cases” between August 7 and 13.
To avoid a sharper rise in figures over the next few months, a new vaccination campaign is planned for the autonomous period. Coupled with that of the flu, it will begin on September 6 in Mayotte, before spreading to the rest of France, Corsica, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana from October 17.
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