Illustration of an emergency service in Lyon.

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Elisa Frisullo / 20 Minutes

  • The Rhône is one of the twenty territories placed under enhanced surveillance and therefore likely to be confined at weekends, according to the announcements made this Thursday by Jean Castex.

  • “20 Minutes” studied the Covid-19 monitoring indicators to see more clearly.

After a plateau observed for several weeks and pressure under control in hospitals, is the coronavirus epidemic about to flare up again in the Rhône?

It is in any case the concern of the government which placed, this Thursday, the department among the twenty territories under reinforced surveillance, likely to be confined at the weekend if the situation does not improve.

To understand what motivated this decision,

20 Minutes

examined the coronavirus monitoring indicators, updated daily on the Public Health France site.

The virus circulates a little more

To measure the circulation of the virus in the population, one must look at the incidence rate of the disease.

On the sliding week of February 16 to 22, it stood at 221 cases per 100,000 inhabitants against 212 the previous week.

A rising rate, therefore, but significantly lower than that observed in the fall at the peak of the second wave.

It was then more than 930 per 100,000 inhabitants in early November.

The English variant very present

What worries the authorities is the part of the variants and in particular the British variant in the new contaminations.

It now represents half of Covid-19 infections in the Rhône, according to Lyon virologist Bruno Lina, member of the national scientific council.

This explains why the incidence rate tends to increase, the British form being more contagious.

Hospital pressure still under control

In hospitals, where the situation has stabilized for several weeks.

Hospitalizations are on the rise.

Not exponentially but enough to alert the authorities.

In one week, the number of Covid + patients hospitalized in the Rhône rose from 779 to 797. In intensive care, the situation is stable with 151 patients currently received.

They were 285 during the epidemic peak in mid-November.

Occupation of these services remains high since since the decline of the epidemic at the end of the year, the additional beds opened at the height of the crisis have been gradually closed.

At the Hospices Civils de Lyon, for example, 180 beds are currently "armed" for Covid + patients against 277 during the peak in November and 139 places dedicated to the sheave in normal times.

The occupancy rate of these services, which, let us remember, welcome patients suffering from pathologies other than the coronavirus all year round, is therefore still close to 94%.

Vaccination is progressing slowly

One of the reasons for fear of an epidemic rebound is the low immunity of the population in the department as well as at the national level.

The vaccination, launched in January, continues every day but is progressing slowly.

As of February 24, according to the latest data from Public Health, 3.4% of the population (all ages) had received at least one dose of vaccine and 1.8% both doses.

Among those over 75, those most exposed to a severe form of the disease, vaccination coverage is higher: 19.8% of them received a first injection and 10.4% both.

For residents of nursing homes, the first to have been vaccinated against Covid at the beginning of January, the rates are still increasing, with 77.6% of people having received the first injection and 41.5% both doses.

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  • Society

  • Coronavirus

  • Covid 19

  • Hospital

  • Health

  • Lyon

  • epidemic