On Friday, September 18, the death toll from Covid-19 jumped, according to figures from Public Health France. It goes from 50 to 123 deaths in 24 hours. This increase should not be a warning, although the number of patients who have died from the new coronavirus does not leave anyone indifferent. The national health agency was wrong.
The explanations
Santé Publique France is the reference on the subject of Covid-19. The site gives statistics on the epidemic in France since the beginning. Its missions are to anticipate health risks through epidemiological surveillance, to understand the disease using surveys and contributions to scientific research and to implement appropriate actions. Its aim is to improve and protect the health of the population.
On September 18, the figure for the death toll from coronavirus pales. Yet this sudden increase is caused by a statistical problem. For about two months, the files of a hospital in the Ile-de-France region had not been transmitted. The health watch body therefore added data concerning 237 admissions files, including 76 deaths. This is indeed an update, concerning figures forgotten for several weeks, and not an “peak mortality”. It is simply the taking into account of new declarations emanating from this care establishment in the department of Essonne, and not new hospitalizations, explains Public Health France.
Despite everything, the number of deaths from Covid-19 is increasing
However, the death toll from Covid-19 is on the rise. In 24 hours, the actual death toll is 47 on Friday. Even if this figure is down slightly compared to the previous day (50), Santé Publique France establishes an observation: “for the first time since the lifting of containment, we observe an increase in deaths for Covid-19”. As of September 23, it is 68. The weekly number of dead people is in “huge increase”, 265 in week 37 against 129 the previous week. At least 92% of the people concerned are aged 65 or over. Guadeloupe, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Grand-Est and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes have the highest rates. France has 31,416 deaths as of September 23, 2020. The epidemic is not stopped for the moment. Some regions have taken restrictive measures to protect its citizens and avoid a second lockdown.
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