Is France experiencing a strong resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic, as some Internet users claim?

On the social network X, formerly Twitter, Internet users claim that in the context of the Olympic Games, France is experiencing a peak in the Covid-19 epidemic. In reality, this is false.

While France has welcomed an influx of tourists in recent weeks in preparation for the Olympic Games, on the social network X, formerly Twitter, many Internet users are talking about a resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic at the end of July. One of them writes: “France has been on a kind of prolonged peak for a month. And since no serious precautions have been put in place, dozens of Covid+ people are wandering around the Olympic “village”, which will lead to other contaminations and dropouts.”

This statement is false. This is what we learn from the latest report from Public Health France published on Wednesday, July 24, and which concerns the week of July 15 to 21. The Agency specifies that the epidemic is stagnating in hospitals and increasing very slightly in the city. Today, Public Health France no longer calculates the incidence rate or the number of contaminations because the French are testing themselves much less and often use self-tests, so their results are not counted.

On the other hand, Public Health France communicates other indicators. The first, the “syndromic” indicators, groups together the medical procedures that are performed due to Covid in France: calls to SOS médecins, visits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations. Between the week of July 8 and the week of July 15, Public Health France noted no increase in visits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations for Covid and a very slight increase in calls to SOS médecins: + 0.2 points.

Another indicator that the health agency monitors are the “virological” indicators: test results. Here again, the report shows a very slight increase in positive tests in the city: + 0.2 points, while those carried out in hospitals are stagnating. Finally, Public Health France also monitors wastewater. The presence of Covid can indeed be detected in human stools and therefore in the dirty water in our network. This allows us to keep an eye on the evolution of the epidemic even if the French are getting tested less. Between the week of July 8 and the week of July 15, the detection of Covid in wastewater is down: -5.3%. As we can see, we are far from a prolonged peak.