The number of consultations is still low, but has been steadily increasing for several weeks

Despite the significant increase since mid-May, the number of consultations related to Covid-19 remains low, French Public Health notes in an epidemiological bulletin issued on Wednesday, June 12.

Covid-19 is still here. The virus, which caused one of the world's biggest health crises in recent years, has never gone away. According to the latest figures published by the French Public Health Authority, SOS doctors' procedures for suspected Covid-19 patients have continued to increase for eight weeks.

More than 1,500 businesses were registered during the week of Monday, June 3 to Monday, June 10. An increase of 51%, according to the epidemiological update published today, Wednesday, June 12. In addition, the percentage of visits to emergency departments for suspected coronavirus infection increased by 52%.

But Bruno Linna, a professor of virology at Lyon University Hospital, said: “This does not mean that we are again facing a very large epidemic.”

Signs of a respiratory infection may be due to coronavirus

“We had already seen an increase in the spread of the virus shortly before the summer, which is not something that completely surprises us,” he explains.

Bruno Linna warns that even if this significant increase should be taken into account, this does not mean that Covid-19 can no longer be ruled out.

“What we see is that the relative proportion of different pathogens present in these samples is very stable for bronchiolitis virus, stable for influenza virus, but clearly increasing for coronavirus (…) so if you have signs of a respiratory infection today, it may be That's because of the coronavirus,” explains the virology professor.

However, the Public Health Authority of France noted an increase in SOS Médecins activities “for influenza-like syndrome among people under 15 years of age (+16%) and higher than in previous years.” Finally, procedures for treating gastroenteritis (-10%) and chicken pox (-23%) are decreasing in all age groups.