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COVID-19 STATS

France breaks 100,000 barrier for Covid infections

Covid infections in France hit six figures on Saturday, with health officials recording 104,611 cases over the previous 24 hours, the third consecutive day the numbers have been record highs.

Published: 26 December 2021 12:05 CET
A man takes his own nasal swab sample for a Covid-19 test
President Macron is due to meet with key members of his government on Monday to discuss new Covid safety measures as cases pass the 100,000 threshold for the first time since the pandemic began. Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP

The latest figures, from France’s public health agency, come ahead of a video-conference meeting on Monday in which President Emmanuel Macron and key members of his government will discuss new Covid safety measures.

Officials are concerned about the effect of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

Already on Friday, the health authority recommended adults receive a booster jab three months after their initial vaccination.

Now the government is moving to make the health pass issued to the vaccinated valid only if people accept the booster jab.

READ ALSO: What will change when France’s health pass becomes a vaccine pass?

The pass is required for access to cafes, restaurants and public spaces, as well as for international travel.

Some regions have already enacted their own safety measures.

At the end of last month, for example, officials in Savoie reintroduced the compulsory wearing of masks, not just in indoor public spaces, but outdoors too — a move just adopted in neighbouring Italy.

READ ALSO: Masks now obligatory in all markets in France

The latest figures mark a dramatic rise since the beginning of the month: on December 4th, the numbers broke 50,000 for the first time before rising steadily.

To date, France has recorded 122,546 deaths from the coronavirus. So far, 76.5 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.                                  

Member comments

  1. Great, now they are cat hing up with the UK oerhaps they could open the border again ( as it obvioysly hadn’t stopped the spread of Omicron) so we can see loved ones.

    1. Great, now they are catching up with the UK perhaps they could open the border again ( as it obviously hasn’t stopped the spread of Omicron) so we can see loved ones.

      1. I agree border restrictions make no sense now the French rate of infection is high and omicron is well-established. It made sense to buy time for a week or two when the new variant actually was new, little present in France and very much an unknown quantity. That is no longer the case.
        The UK government too needs a more realistic approach – I suspect it takes pleasure in appearing to uphold a “strong” border, but the reasons are political rather than scientific.

    2. Absolutely right – closing the border was only ever a political decision by Macron – nothing to do with Public Health !

  2. What isn’t stated is how many people were tested and what percentage tested positive as compared to the recent past. The lines at testing sites have been pretty long of late and with more tests come more positives. And how many of the positives were asymptomatic? What has been the hospitalization rate and the rate of serious illnesses? Reporting just the top line of record infections is not good journalism.

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HEALTH

New Covid-19 variant on the rebound in France

French health authorities have noted an increase in hospital visits likely connected to Covid-19 as a new variant makes its away around France.

Published: 10 August 2023 10:06 CEST
New Covid-19 variant on the rebound in France

Covid-19 has been making a comeback in France since the end of July, via the new ‘Eris’ variant, or EG-5 strain, which has been connected to over a third (35 percent) of cases of the virus sequenced in France recently.

The variant is also spreading in Italy, the UK and the United States, and the World Health Organisation has announced that it is “closely monitoring the situation”.

Santé Publique France said on August 1st in their weekly bulletin that they had recorded a 26 percent increase in emergency room visits for suspected Covid-19 infection during the week of July 24th to 30th in comparison to the week previous.

This was particularly pronounced for older people, but “spanned age categories”.

Experts have said that ‘Eris’ is highly contagious – one professor at the University of Montpellier, Mircea Sofonea, told Le Figaro that the new strain is “more efficient in terms of transmission and […] is also more efficient in terms of immune escape”.

Nevertheless, Sofonea noted that the variant could be gaining ground simply due to a “natural immune decline in the general population”. 

The professor also told Le Figaro that there is no data indicating that this variation or its symptoms are particularly severe.

Similar to Omicron variants, symptoms such as cough, high fever, and runny nose remain common.

Epidemiologist Antoine Flahaul told Actu France that “there are no particularly worrying characteristics with this new variant”, but advised that people still exercise caution.

Notably, there was an upturn in cases following the annual Fêtes de Bayonne in French Basque country, which attracted over 1.3 million people. Sébastien Boucher, head of Axbio laboratories in the area told France Bleu that his centres recorded a 20 percent positivity rate in test before the festival, and a 35 percent rate afterwards in the area around Bayonne. 

Local media reported that pharmacies ran out of self-tests at the start of the festival, and that testing appointments increased significantly amid the Fête.

In February, the French government dropped the requirement to isolate after a positive Covid-19 test result, but health experts still recommend protective steps such as avoiding contact with immune-compromised people and informing those you were in contact with while contagious.

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