Key Points

• Epidemiological surveillance of COVID-19:

  • Multi-source, comprising various systems designed for descriptive and/or evaluative purposes;

  • Enabling the tracking and description of the epidemic in all its dimensions;

  • First-time implementation of a system enabling the near-real-time centralization of results from all diagnostic tests for a given disease (SI-DEP available starting in May 2020).

• Study period for this BSP:

  • From March 2020 to May 2021;

  • Covering the first three waves of the epidemic.

• Epidemic dynamics in the Centre-Val de Loire region (March 2020 – May 2021):

  • Epidemic dynamics reflected in all data sources;

  • A ^first wave that began later than in other regions (first case on March 4, 2020) and was of lesser magnitude, but which quickly strained the healthcare system;

  • A second and third wave that were more intense and longer-lasting than the first wave;

  • A third wave marked by the circulation of various variants, including the Alpha variant, detected as early as late December, with higher circulation in the northern part of the region followed by spread throughout the entire region.

• Key data for the Centre-Val de Loire region (March 2020 – May 2021):

  • Viral circulation was highest at the regional level in late October 2020 (week S44-2020) with an incidence rate of 394 per 100,000 inhabitants. The Loiret was the department in the region with the highest incidence rate during that same week (484 per 100,000 inhabitants in week 44 of 2020);

  • A total of 15,106 hospitalizations, including 2,810 in intensive care; 2,746 deaths in healthcare facilities;

  • 735 cases reported by sentinel intensive care units; median age of 65; presence of comorbidities in over 80% of them; median length of stay of 13 days;

  • 1,747 cases reported in long-term care facilities (ESMS), including 952 in nursing homes (EHPAD); 9,609 cases among residents and 5,246 among staff members; 1,200 deaths in long-term care facilities;

  • 14,991 emergency room visits and 6,193 SOS Médecins calls for suspected COVID-19;

  • 83% of people aged 75 and older had received one dose; 67% had completed the full vaccination series by the end of May 2021;

  • 1,395 clusters identified in various types of communities.