Evaluation of Strategies to Fight COVID-19: The French Paradigm

(1) Background: We collected COVID-19 mortality data and the age distribution of the deceased in France and other European countries, as well as specifically in the cities of Paris and Marseille, and compared them. (2) Methods: Data on mortality related to COVID-19 and the associated age distribution were collected from government institutions in various European countries. In France, data were obtained from INSEE and Santé Publique France. All-cause mortality was also examined in order to study potential excess mortality using EuroMOMO. The Marseille data came from the epidemiological surveillance system. (3) Results: France is one of the European countries most impacted by COVID-19. Its proportion of deaths in people under 60 years of age is higher (6.5%) than that of Italy (4.6%) or Spain (4.7%). Excess mortality (5% more deaths) was also observed. Ile-de-France and the Grand-Est are the two French regions with the highest mortality. The proportion of deaths in the under-60 age group was considerable in Ile-de-France (9.9% vs. 4.5% in the Southern region). There are significantly higher numbers of patients hospitalized, in intensive care and deceased in Paris than in Marseille. (4) Conclusions: No patient management, i.e., from screening to diagnosis, including biological assessment and clinical examination, likely explains the high mortality associated with COVID-19.