The current wave of Covid-19 in France seems to be reaching a peak, but hospitalizations and deaths continue to increase, the health authorities summed up on Friday, in a context still marked by several simultaneous epidemics.
"
What we are seeing at the national level is a slight drop in the positivity rate
", but "
new hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients are still on the rise
" and "
deaths continue to increase
", summarized Nicolas Methy, expert at Public Health France, during a press conference.
The epidemic, which had experienced a lull after a wave at the end of the summer, started again for almost a month.
This rebound has already given rise to a number of Covid hospitalizations - more than 24,000 - unprecedented since last spring.
The current wave, however, may have peaked.
While it is difficult to give a true idea of the number of cases, the measurements being affected by a social movement among biologists, the indicators show a start to a decline in contamination.
Read alsoCovid-19: why the WHO wants to believe in the end of the international public health emergency in 2023
However, this eventual peak does not yet translate to the hospital.
Last week, new hospitalizations increased by 2% to 7,475 patients, a first estimate which is likely to be raised upwards.
Deaths have increased significantly (+7.5%), to more than 700 last week.
The last few days have been marked in France by the crossing of the threshold of 160,000 deaths linked to Covid.
This wave contributes to a context of "
triple epidemic
" which is testing the health system.
The Covid is in fact added to the flu, the epidemic of which has just spread throughout the metropolis, and to bronchiolitis, at record levels for more than ten years in infants.
It appears to have peaked last week but hospitalization levels remain very high and experts continue to call for babies to be protected.
Read alsoCovid-19: could the powerful epidemic wave in China affect France and Europe?
As for the flu, the epidemic "
is earlier than in previous years and the increase is very rapid
", warned epidemiologist Sybille Bernard-Stoecklin of Public Health France, noting on the other hand that no element indicated for time that the virus was more dangerous than in previous years.
