In our reference institute for infectious diseases, we have been implementing since the end of January 2020 PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA using several systems, including those released at the European level [4]. In total, we have tested to date (as at 19 February 2020) 4,084 respiratory samples by PCR and all the tests have been negative for SARS-CoV-2. These tests were carried out on the samples of 32 suspected SARS-CoV-2 cases, 337 people repatriated at the beginning of February 2020 from China tested twice, 164 patients who died in public hospitals in Marseille between 2014 and 2019 of whom at least one respiratory sample had been sent to our laboratory, and they also included 3,214 respiratory samples sent since January 2020 to our laboratory to search for a viral aetiology. In striking contrast, we have tested 5,080 respiratory samples for various suspected respiratory viral infections since 1 January 2020 and identified in 3,380 cases respiratory viruses. In decreasing order of frequency, they were: influenza A virus (n = 794), influenza B virus (n = 588), rhinovirus (n = 567), respiratory syncytial virus (n = 361), adenovirus (n = 226), metapneumovirus (n = 192), enterovirus (n = 171), bocavirus (n = 83), parainfluenza virus (n = 24), and parechovirus (n = 8). Among the diagnosed viruses, there were also 373 common human coronaviruses (HCoV), including 205 HCoV-HKU1, 94 HCoV-NL63, 46 HCoV-OC43, and 28 HCoV-229E [5]. Furthermore, analysis of the mortality associated with these viruses has been able to show that since 1 January 2020, one patient died after being diagnosed with HCoV-HKU1, and respiratory viruses were found in 13 other patients who died, which included influenza A virus (3 cases), respiratory syncytial virus (3 cases), rhinovirus (5 cases), adenovirus (1 case) and metapneumovirus (1 case). Retrospectively, analysis of deaths in patients who have had a respiratory sample has shown that at least nine patients have died between 2017 and 2019 after being diagnosed with one of the four coronaviruses commonly circulating in humans [6].