COVID-19 Cases Rise in France This Autumn: What the Data Show

Since the start of September 2026, Santé publique France (SPF), the country's public health agency, has reported a renewed increase in COVID-19 circulation nationwide. The signal is visible across several surveillance networks that track suspected infections before laboratory confirmation, but the agency says the overall level remains lower than at the same point in the previous four autumns.

What the surveillance networks are showing

According to data SPF released around September 23, 2026 and reported by franceinfo, consultations for suspected COVID-19 at SOS Médecins — a network of on-call doctors — rose 76% during the week of September 14–20 compared with the previous week, an increase of about 390 additional consultations. The Oscour emergency-department network recorded a 16% rise in suspected COVID-19 visits among children and a 67% rise among adults over the same week. Hospitalisations linked to the virus were also edging up across all age groups, SPF said.

SPF has not described this rise as a severe wave. The agency characterised current circulating variants as producing generally mild symptoms and remaining sensitive to the protection conferred by vaccination, according to franceinfo and medical-information site monsuivimedical.fr, which both cited the same SPF update.

Is a new variant driving the increase?

Neither franceinfo nor monsuivimedical.fr reported SPF naming a specific new variant behind the September 2026 uptick. For broader context, French medical outlet Caducee.net, summarising WHO and European surveillance data from around March 2026, listed four lineages under watch at the time: XFG, NB.1.8.1, KP.3.1.1 and BA.3.2.

Among these, XFG — officially named Stratus by the WHO and nicknamed the 'Frankenstein' variant in media coverage because it recombines genetic material from two earlier Omicron sub-lineages, LF.7 and LP.8.1.2 — had already become the dominant sequenced variant in France and several other European countries during 2025, according to Euronews and French outlet Pharma365.fr. Both the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) classify XFG as a 'variant under monitoring,' a category used when a lineage is being watched for possible partial immune escape without evidence that it causes more severe disease or reduces vaccine protection against severe forms, Euronews reported.

Reported symptoms associated with XFG include fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat and headache — largely consistent with earlier variants — along with hoarseness, which clinicians in the UK have reported more frequently with this strain than with previous ones, per Pharma365.fr. Euronews noted there is no solid evidence that a 'razor blade throat' sensation attributed to this variant in social-media discussion occurs more often with XFG than with other circulating viruses.

Vaccination campaign timing

France's COVID-19 vaccination campaign for the 2026–2027 season is set to begin in mid-October, running alongside the seasonal influenza vaccination campaign, according to franceinfo and monsuivimedical.fr. Priority groups named by monsuivimedical.fr include people aged 65 and over, patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, respiratory insufficiency or cardiovascular disease, immunocompromised individuals, and pregnant women. Vaccines are expected to be available through pharmacies, general practitioners, midwives and authorised nurses, the same source reported.

How this autumn compares with previous years

SPF's central message, relayed by franceinfo, is one of monitored but moderate concern. The agency's own wording, as quoted by franceinfo, was that the uptick stays below past autumns rather than surpassing them.

Earlier in 2026, before this autumn uptick, overall SARS-CoV-2 activity in France and the broader EU/EEA region had been assessed as low. Caducee.net reported that global WHO testing data for the week of February 23–March 1, 2026 showed 2,050 positive results out of 60,428 samples tested across 83 countries, a 3.4% positivity rate, and that the ECDC described activity in the EU/EEA as remaining low around mid-March 2026.