Key Points

COVID-19

In Week 6 in Normandy, epidemic surveillance indicators continue to trend downward. Incidence and positivity rates are decreasing, along with a decline in testing activity. The effective reproduction number, which reflects the rate of spread, is stable and remains below 1.

In hospitals, there has been a decrease in the number of new hospitalizations as well as in the total number of people hospitalized for COVID-19. The number of people in intensive care remains stable.

These trends suggest a decline in epidemic activity, though incidence remains high, amid the spread of new, more transmissible variants. To prevent the epidemiological situation from worsening in the coming weeks, preventive measures and social distancing remain the primary tools to be implemented to curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The vaccination campaign continues, and as of February 17, 142,526 people had received at least one dose of vaccine in Normandy, representing a vaccination coverage rate of 4.3%.

Regarding new variants, in week 6, 39% of positive first-line tests (RT-PCR and antigen tests) recorded in SI-DEP were associated with a screening test (i.e., 1,935). Of these, 33% (639) corresponded to a suspected case of the 20I/501Y.V1 (UK) variant and 5% (97) to a suspected case of the 20H/501Y.V2 (ZA) or 20J/501Y.V3 (BR) variant. Eure and Calvados had, respectively, a proportion of 60% and 30% of suspected 20I/501Y.V1 (UK) variants, Seine-Maritime 28%, Orne 21%, and Manche 15%. The proportion of suspected cases of the 20H/501Y.V2 (ZA) or 20J/501Y.V3 (BR) variants was 12% in Calvados, 9% in Manche, 5% in Orne, 3% in Eure, and 1% in Seine-Maritime.

Bronchiolitis and Gastroenteritis

In week 6, activity for SOS bronchiolitis is decreasing but remains close to the levels of the past two years. Activity for bronchiolitis in emergency departments, meanwhile, is stable at a low level. No new RSV has been isolated in hospitalized patients by laboratories at Normandy university hospitals. Current respiratory infections are mainly caused by rhinoviruses. Activity for gastroenteritis is generally stable at a level lower than in previous years.