It had been expected for several weeks, in order to have a geographically finer view of the epidemiological situation in France.
For the first time, Public Health France unveiled this Wednesday evening several indicators at the level of the municipality, and no longer only at the level of the region, the department or the metropolis.
They are accessible on its Géodes platform.
We can now find maps showing the incidence rate, positivity or screening, village by village and city by city (the detailed lists should be available soon on the data.gouv.fr site).
The incidence rate is particularly interesting to observe.
Remember that this is the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, over seven days.
From October 12 to 18, it stands at 251.5 in France, with strong variations depending on the territory.
Note: unlike the data at the level of the department or the region, we do not have, at this time, precise rates for the municipality, but only a range.
Public Health France wanted to avoid too “stigmatizing” those who would have a particularly high incidence rate.
"The exact rates are not displayed in order to avoid the identification of people tested, especially those who have a positive test", also writes the health agency in its detailed documentation.
The incidence rate brackets are six in number:
- less than 10 (9768 municipalities)
- between 10 and 20 (2142 municipalities)
- between 20 and 50 (4059 municipalities)
- between 50 and 150 (7247 municipalities)
- between 150 and 250 (4,182 municipalities)
- 250 and more (7588 municipalities)
Unsurprisingly, the map shows territories where the vast majority of municipalities have a very high incidence rate.
It is observed around Lyon, Lille and Paris, in particular.
The metropolises of these three cities are also among the nine in which a curfew has been applied from 9 p.m. every evening since Saturday, October 17.
We can regret that an additional threshold was not provided for, at 400 or 500. This would have made it possible to better distinguish, for example in the Lyon suburbs where very many municipalities have an incidence rate greater than 250, which are the most "critical" ones.
Conversely, in several regions such as Brittany, the incidence rate is less than 10 in many municipalities.
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Of course, this indicator does not claim to take into account all of the infected people, since some asymptomatic people are not tested.
But the number of tests performed sharply increased in week 42 (more than 1.6 million).
Finally, it should be noted that the tests are recorded in the database with the main residence address of the person tested.
In the future, "it will be possible to distinguish with the address of temporary residence (therefore the department of the person's holiday location when this is the case)", indicates Public Health France in its frequently asked questions. September 25.
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Due to this bias, if a person living in a point A is tested at a point B after being contaminated there, it will artificially increase the incidence rate of the place A. This had notably played during the summer holidays, which have brewed many people.
In July, 21% of people tested had been outside their department of residence, which concerned 18% of tests, said Public Health France.
And the agency emphasizes that "the impact of the contribution of these summer mobility on the indicators currently observed therefore seems real but nevertheless limited".
