Misinformation. Cases on the rise: Is Covid-19 really back at the end of summer?
After a very calm start to 2025 on the Covid-19 pandemic front, wastewater monitoring has shown a steady rise in contamination over the past month. This is cause for concern as winter approaches... even though the latest epidemic waves have remained limited.
The Covid-19 epidemic that began in late 2019 is still active, but no longer constitutes a "health emergency": for the past two to three years, successive waves have no longer reached the alarming levels of the beginning. Illustration photo Sipa
Five years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the virus has not disappeared: episodically, outbreaks occur, sometimes on a national scale. As in the United States, the country has been experiencing a rise in infections for two months, already at a level higher than last winter. And in France? For the moment, nothing alarming, but indicators show a continuous increase in cases for the past five weeks.
Thus, the analysis of wastewater via the Sum'Eau network confirms this epidemic resurgence - at levels, however, much lower than in spring and autumn 2024.
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At the national level, depending on whether we take into account the average of the first 12 stations or the 54 currently monitored, the indicator fluctuates between 1,500 and 2,000. But several cities stand out: Besançon (Doubs), Dijon (Côte-d'Or), Grenoble (Isère) and Metz (Moselle) display significantly higher figures. In the regions of the EBRA group, of which our newspaper is a part, the prize goes to Strasbourg, where the indicator is around 3,500. More generally, the indicators are very high and rising in the Northeast and on the Mediterranean coast, high and rising on the Atlantic coast.
“Contained viral circulation”Figures that are already being reflected in hospitals: in its latest national information bulletin, published at the end of August, Santé publique France also points to an increase in emergency room visits for Covid-19 among adults, "particularly among those aged 75 and over (+18%)" during the week of August 18 to 24.
So, should we be worried? For now, this 18% increase represents "only" 37 additional visits to the emergency room. "Syndromic indicators, both in the community and in hospitals, do not show any notable change, confirming contained viral circulation," explains Public Health France. "The increase in activity observed in the Oscour network is relative, and the levels of activity in the emergency room are not comparable to those observed during the same period in previous years."
Vaccination campaign not yet announcedAs autumn approaches, one unknown remains: how high will the curve climb? Has it already reached its peak, roughly at the level of previous peaks of the year? Or could it rise until the heart of winter, alongside other diseases? For the health system, this is the main concern: experiencing, as in 2022-2023, three or even four simultaneous epidemics, likely to overwhelm the hospital .
In the spring, a massive Covid-19 vaccination campaign was conducted—with relative success. A next one is planned for the fall, but the date has not yet been announced. "People at greatest risk of severe illness are strongly recommended to receive an annual dose," writes the French Health Insurance—including those over 65, immunocompromised people, and pregnant women.
Le Républicain Lorrain
