For the second week in a row, the weekly update from the Brittany Regional Health Agency (ARS) reports a “slight improvement” in the health situation in the region.
With indicators that evolve in the same direction as last week. Contaminations and the incidence rate are down, unlike hospitalizations.
Less than 50,000 cases this week
47,801 new positive cases have been recorded in Brittany this week, compared to 54,548 last week. That is a decrease of 12%. No slowing down or acceleration of the trend therefore, since this drop is equivalent to that recorded by the ARS last Friday.
This second week of decline comes after a month of rise. The number of new weekly cases in Brittany drops below 50,000, as was the case on February 11. The indicators were then in free fall after hitting record highs at the 5th wave high in late January.
Third most affected region in France
The Breton incidence rate also fell for the second consecutive week. It reached 1,535.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants this Friday. A drop of 8%, slightly less marked than last week.
Brittany is currently the third most affected region in mainland France, behind Corsica and Normandy. Its incidence rate remains this week even higher than the national average (1,383.36 cases per 100,000 inhabitants).
More than four out of ten tests still positive
The positivity rate is also continuing its (very slight) decline. It goes from 41.8% last week to 41.3%. A figure that remains particularly high and whose decline is slowing down. More than four out of ten tests are therefore still positive in Brittany.
50 deaths in seven days
Despite these few points for improvement, hospital activity continues to intensify in the region. 653 patients are currently hospitalized for covid reasons in Brittany, i.e. 46 more in seven days.
In intensive care, two new admissions bring the total number of patients in critical care to 46. An increase of 24% in two weeks. 50 patients died this week. A level that had not been reached since March 11.
In the Côtes-d’Armor
The situation continues to improve in Côtes-d’Armor. While the department was the most affected in mainland France just 15 days ago, it is now in 14th position, with an incidence rate of 1,564.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, down from 225, 9 points in seven days.
The department recorded 8,496 new positive cases this week, compared to more than 10,000 last week. The Côtes-d’Armor positivity rate is no longer even the highest in the region, although it remains at a very high level with 42.6% of positive tests.
In Finistère
More contrasted situation in Finistère, where the drop in the incidence rate is less clear than in Côtes-d’Armor. The indicator has lost only 89.7 points in seven days and now stands at 1,601.3. It is the 10th highest in metropolitan France.
13,857 new cases were identified by ARS Bretagne in Finistère this week, a small drop of 6% in one week. The positivity rate (43.7%) is even on the rise in the department, which means that the virus is circulating more than last week, regardless of the number of tests carried out.
In Morbihan
The improvements are so minimal, that one would almost be tempted to say that the indicators are stable compared to those of last week in Morbihan. Contaminations fell by only 9% in one week, the incidence rate by 4%, and the positivity rate lost 0.1 point.
10,148 new cases have been recorded in the department over the past seven days, the incidence rate is still the lowest in Brittany (1,429), and 42.2% of the tests there were positive this week.
In Ille-et-Vilaine
ARS Brittany identified 15,300 new cases in Ille-et-Vilaine this week, compared to 18,045 last week. The incidence rate is down 11% from 1,729.1 last Friday to 1,539.5.
Finally, the positivity rate drops below 40%. It is now 38.2% in the department.