Is the situation getting better in Île-de-France? The Paris area has been faced with the coronavirus epidemic for several weeks which made hospitals very worried as they feared to be overwhelmed in the coming days. So, as Paris and the entire region have been placed on hybrid lockdown since March 20, 2021, but the fight is not over.
Back to late March, the incidence rate decreased for the first time in several Île-de-France departments, even though data were still high. First slow, the decrease has been confirmed in all Île-de-France departments in early April. Seine-Saint-Denis and Val d'Oise moved under the threshold of 700 cases for 100,000 inhabitants after peaking over 800 cases.
But overnight, the Paris area saw a boom in the incidence rate. The - temporary - decrease might be attributed to the Spring break and public holidays including Easter Monday. Therefore, between April 11 and 12, 2021, the indicator skyrocketted in the entire area.
Since then, the incidence rate has decreased again. Even though the evolution is encouraging, data remain high. As of April 15, 2021, Paris displays an incidence rate of 529.2 cases for 100,000 inhabitants. In Seine-et-Marne it reaches 540.3 and 531.6 in Essonne. Hauts-de-Seine displays an incidence rate of 471.9. As for Yvelines, the incidence rate is the lowest in Île-de-France with 435.2 cases for 100,000 inhabitants. In Seine-Saint-Denis, in Val d'Oise, and in Val-de-Marne, it respectively reaches 691.4; 667.8; and 600.2. These three departments present the highest incidence rates in the region.
These data suggest measures made lately happen to pay off. Careful though, despite the temporary decrease in the incidence rate, hospitals' occupancy rate keeps on growing because the recovery path for Covid patients is long. The impacts of the measure on the hospital pressure usually take two more weeks than those related to the incidence rate. Please remain cautious.
