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. 2020 Aug;25(34):2001485.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.34.2001485.

Excess all-cause mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in France, March to May 2020

Anne Fouillet  1 , Isabelle Pontais  1 , Céline Caserio-Schönemann  1
Affiliations

Excess all-cause mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in France, March to May 2020

Anne Fouillet et al. Euro Surveill. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Through a weekly all-cause mortality surveillance system, we observed in France a major all-cause excess mortality from March to May 2020, concomitant with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic. The excess mortality was 25,030 deaths, mainly among elderly people. Five metropolitan regions were the most affected, particularly Île-de-France and the Grand-Est regions. Assessing the excess mortality related to COVID-19 is complex because of the potential protective effect of the lockdown period on other causes of mortality.

Keywords: COVID-19; France; all-cause; mortality; reactive surveillance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overall and cumulative excess all-cause and all-age mortality, France, calendar week 40, 2013−22, 2020
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overall and cumulative excess all-cause mortality by age group, France, calendar week 40 in 2013 to week 22 in 2020
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proportion of excess all-cause mortality among the expected number of deaths, by age group and sex, France, 2 March−31 May 2020 (n = 175,801)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Level of all-cause excess deaths by county and age, France, 2 March−31 May 2020 (n = 175,801)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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