More than 300 drownings, including 79 fatal, recorded in one month in France



While summer is synonymous with swimming, the authorities call for vigilance. It must be said that there are reasons to be concerned. More than 300 accidental drownings, including 79 fatal, occurred in France between early June and early July, said Public Health France (SpF) on Tuesday, which is alarmed at these high figures.

Between June 1 and July 5, the 2021 drowning investigation by the health agency listed a total of 314 “documented accidental drownings”, according to preliminary results. This is a “high” number which represents, when compared to a survey carried out in 2018 over the same period, an increase of 22% for accidental drownings, and 58% of deaths.

In 2020, drowning accidents recorded between early June and early August, so two full months, had fallen by around 20% compared to previous years. Public Health France then attributed this decrease to the closure of swimming pools due to Covid-19 and the lower frequentation of bathing places.

A significant risk in children and the elderly

These accidents occurred in 2021 “in the context of the lifting of the restrictive measures deployed for the management of the Covid epidemic”, notes SpF. Measures which “have resulted in particular in a significant reduction in physical activity and weight gain, leading to a probable deterioration in the physical condition of the population”. The increase in drownings “could therefore be partially linked to a poor understanding of physical capacities or a deterioration in health after a long period of reduced activity”.

The health agency therefore calls for “strengthening prevention on the risk of drowning at all ages, insisting on the gradual resumption of physical activity, including swimming”. The age categories most affected by these accidents are children aged 0 to 5 (21% of drownings) and people aged 65 and over (25%). The accidents were most numerous at sea (143). This is followed by private family swimming pools (61), rivers and streams (45), and bodies of water such as lakes (33).



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