Covid-19: attendance in emergencies drops dramatically (and this is not necessarily good news)



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An impression of déjà vu floats in the emergency room. Between 1 September and 17 November visits to the emergency room for all causes decreased by more than 8,000 visits (-22%). At the same time, admissions for suspected Covid have tripled, reaching one thousand and a half in mid-November.

Covid-19: attendance in emergencies drops dramatically (and this is not necessarily good news)

A situation reminiscent of the first wave. Throughout March, the number of emergency room visits for all reasons decreased by 44%, or 18,800 fewer hospitalizations. And this despite 4,900 additional rumors for suspected Covid. “In February, March, April we saw a decline of up to 75% in some services,” notes Alexandre Mokede, head of the health care center of the French Hospital Federation (FHF), who attributes this decline to “the fact that people had fear of going to the emergency room, fear of disturbing caregivers but also of getting infected by going to the hospital. “

The number of people with physical trauma or appendicitis, among others, was well below normal. At the time, caregivers saw this as a clear sign of giving up care. The FHF and five other organizations also raised the alarm on April 22 and recalled in a press release “that it is essential to continue to be treated and that other existing diseases must not be neglected. “

Nothing works. Or so little. Between March 31 and May 11, the date of decadence, hospitalizations for Covid dissolve by 79% but hospitalizations in the emergency room increase by a shy 21%. Those who had stopped seeking treatment earlier suffered the consequences.

The renunciation of treatment, a fatal risk

“We have seen people arrive in catastrophic health because they had held things back for a month or two for which they would have to go to the ER,” says Alexandre Mokede. The concern of caregivers has partly been realized: “a stronger health surge in the height of summer, due to more people in much more degraded situations than normal,” he explains.

In some departments, the admissions curve doesn’t even wait for the end of imprisonment to rise sharply. In Mayenne, after a first decline in March, the emergency departments of the department thus saw their presence increase again before 11 May; and then remain stable, despite a resumption of the coronavirus epidemic in the height of summer.

Covid-19: attendance in emergencies drops dramatically (and this is not necessarily good news)

However, it was necessary to wait until the beginning of September to return to 40,000 daily passages throughout France, equivalent to that of February. Data that seem to indicate a return to a more traditional use of emergency services.

Twice repetitive?

A very short return to normal as the curve plummets again on return. Between 1 September and 17 November the number of passages dropped to about 30,000 daily passages, while admissions for Covid tripled in the same period.

In the Loire, which has been badly hit since mid-October, attendance at the emergency room decreased by 27% between the beginning of the school year and mid-November, or almost 200 fewer visits for thirty visits for suspected Covid -19 the same period.

Covid-19: attendance in emergencies drops dramatically (and this is not necessarily good news)

In recent days, while Public Health France has noticed a first weekly decline in the number of new cases hospitalized for Covid and new hospitalizations in intensive care, the curve of emergency admissions for all causes also continues to decrease, but there is no this is not necessarily good news. The situation is very similar to that of the first wave and could indicate that patients are again stopping going to the emergency room.

* Data on emergency room attendance was leveled out over 6 days on average.

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