A nurse in Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe, September 24, 2020. -

AFP

Are there signs of stabilization of the coronavirus epidemic?

The French public health organization prefers to remain cautious during a press point this Friday, estimating that the Covid-19 is still in “an ascending phase” in France.

"We are still in an ascending phase of the epidemic, almost all indicators are on the rise," said Sophie Vaux, epidemiologist at the health agency, during an online press briefing.

Last week, emergency room visits for suspected Covid-19 thus increased by 21%, hospitalizations by 34% and new admissions in intensive care by 40%, an increase "now exponential", warns the epidemiologist.

Figures on the rise among the elderly

The number of deaths linked to an infection with the new coronavirus, which started to rise again two weeks ago, again increased by 25% last week, with 332 deaths in hospital or nursing home, specifies Public Health France in its weekly point.

The health agency also notes the "increasingly strong circulation" of the virus among the elderly, who are at greater risk of developing a serious form of the disease.

The rate of new cases has been "quadrupled since mid-August" among those aged 75 and over, reaching 55.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, and by three among those aged 65-74, to 44.5 per 100,000, observed Sophie Vaux.

"These are figures that worry us because it suggests that we will have a continuation of hospitalizations, admissions in intensive care and possibly deaths" in the weeks to come, she explained.

Be careful with numbers

A total of 66,671 new confirmed cases of Sars-CoV-2 infection were detected last week, up 8%.

This increase was already 8% the previous week, but was significantly higher in late August and early September, with increases in the number of cases ranging from 20% to 57%.

However, it is too early to see it as a sign of slowing down because, "given the lengthening of the data consolidation times and a saturation of diagnostic capacities, it is suspected that this number of cases is underestimated", warned Sophie Worth.

"We would all like to announce a stabilization, but it is much too early to talk about it, we are not at all sure that this is the case," she insisted.

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