The incidence rate, the positivity rate and the number of emergency room visits for suspected Covid-19 are all on the rise.
Covid-19 incidence and positivity rates “continued to increase” in the week of March 13-19, but remained “at low levels”, writes in its latest epidemiological bulletin on Wednesday Santé Publique France.
This increase is observed “for the second consecutive week, while remaining at low levels, in a context of a moderate decrease in the screening rate”, it is specified.
The incidence rate is thus 70 per 100,000 inhabitants and is up 26% compared to that measured the previous week, with 47,274 new confirmed cases. We have to go back to mid-January, following a slight epidemic rebound, to find this level of the incidence rate.
These slight increases are observed in mainland France, except for Corsica. Overseas, “the incidence rate was decreasing or stable”.
Increase in emergency room visits
Santé Publique France also writes that the number of visits to the emergency room for suspicion of Covid-19 was “increasing” last week, with 1,899 passages recorded (+ 20%), “as well as acts at SOS Médecins”, with 1,311 acts (+29%).
If the Health agency underlines in its report that “new hospitalizations decreased” last week, the government site notes as of March 22 an increase in this category: +15% over the last seven days, with more than 300 patients admitted each day.
The Omicron variant is still the majority in France, with in particular the XBB sub-lineage. The latter accounted for 71% of the sequences analyzed while “in parallel, BA.5 and its sub-lineages continued to decline”.
According to Public Health France, “the level of booster vaccinations adapted to the Omicron variant remained insufficient. As of March 20, 2023, 23.2% of 60-79 year olds and 25.9% of 80 year olds and over had received this booster.”
