More than 300 accidental drownings, including 79 fatal, occurred in France between early June and early July.
This is what Public Health France (SPF) indicates on Tuesday.
The health agency is alarmed by these high figures and calls for vigilance.
Between June 1 and July 5, the 2021 drowning investigation identified 314 "documented accidental drownings" resulting in 79 deaths, according to preliminary results.
This is a "high" number.
Compared to a 2018 survey over the same period, this is an increase of 22% for accidental drownings and 58% for deaths.
In 2020, drowning accidents recorded between early June and early August (therefore two full months) fell by around 20% compared to previous years.
But Public Health France attributes this decrease to the closure of swimming pools due to Covid-19 and the lower frequentation of bathing places.
21% of those drowned are between 0 and 5 years old, 25% are over 65 years old
This year, the accidents occurred in 2021 "in the context of the lifting of the restrictive measures deployed for the management of the Covid epidemic", notes SPF. These measures "have resulted in particular in a significant reduction in physical activity and weight gain, leading to a probable deterioration in the physical condition of the population". The increase in drownings "could therefore be partially linked to a poor understanding of physical capacities or a deterioration in health after a long period of reduced activity", analyzes SPF.
The agency calls for "strengthening prevention of the risk of drowning at all ages, by insisting on the gradual resumption of physical activity, including swimming". The age groups most affected by these accidents are children aged 0 to 5 (21% of drownings) and people aged 65 and over (25%). The accidents were most numerous at sea (143). This is followed by private family swimming pools (61), rivers and streams (45), and bodies of water such as lakes (33).
