The Sentinelles network monitors influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and acute respiratory infections (ARI) in general practice in France [1]. The 2019/20 influenza epidemic reached its peak in mid-February in France [2] and it was expected that ILI incidence would decrease thereafter. However, in the first week of March 2020, we observed a renewed increase in ILI cases in some regions. Several nasopharyngeal swabs collected in that period by Sentinelles general practitioners (GPs) tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Here, we quantified the number of consultations for ILI in France in early March 2020 in excess of what was expected to be caused by the influenza epidemic. As coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases were first identified in France at the end of January 2020 [3] we examined the relationship between ILI reports and reported cases of COVID-19.