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COVID-19 STATS

Tourist areas bear brunt of France’s spike in Covid-19 cases

Covid-19 cases in France have doubled over the course of a week, with infections rising most rapidly in popular tourist areas, government figures reveal.

Published: 19 July 2021 17:04 CEST
Tourist areas bear brunt of France's spike in Covid-19 cases
A waiter serves customers as they sit on a cafe terrace in Perpignan, where health restrictions have again been tightened because of a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases. Photo: Raymond Roig | AFP

In the 24 hours ending July 18th, 12,532 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, up from 10,949 on Saturday, July 17th; and 4,256 on Friday, July 16th.

The incidence rate (cases per 100,000 people) has risen above the alert threshold of 50 in 37 departments, notably along popular tourist areas – the southwest and Mediterranean coasts, and in Paris. 

Image: covidtracker.fr

On July 12th, just 12 departments were recording an incidence rate of over 50. Nationally, the incidence rate is also increasing and stood at 63.5 on July 15th, compared to 32.2 on July 9th.

Cases are rising most rapidly in the Pyrénées-Orientales, where the latest Public Health France figures show an incidence rate of 299.6 cases per 100,000, followed by Haute-Corse (249.1), Alpes-Maritimes (133.6), and Charente-Maritime (109).

The rise in cases in coastal areas is not simply due to holidaymakers testing positive, since the incidence rate figures are based on a person’s department of residence, not where they took the Covid test.

READ ALSO: How high are vaccination rates where you live in France?

The spike in cases is linked to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19, and has prompted local authorities to impose new restrictions. 

Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal warned on Sunday that: “the Delta variant … is incredibly more contagious, more aggressive than the original strain of the virus”. 

In an interview with Le Parisien, he said: “We have to be clear. Now, the options are either general vaccination or a viral tsunami. There is no alternative.”

In Pyrénées-Orientales, bars and restaurants are required to close at 11pm, and face masks are obligatory outdoors in public areas. These latest local rules are in place until at least August 2nd.

The Pas-de-Calais, Bas-Rhin and Var départements have also reinstated the obligation to wear a mask in busy outdoor areas such as markets and pedestrian streets.

Plans to extend the remit of the pass sanitaire – to include cinemas, theatres and museums as well as bars, cafés, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and for long-distance travel by coach and train – will be debated in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

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COVID-19

Germany’s weekly Covid infection rate rises above 500

Germany recorded a weekly Covid incidence of more than 500 per 100,000 people on Monday as health experts warn that the fifth wave of the pandemic has only just begun.

Published: 17 January 2022 13:09 CET
Bar in Berlin's Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, which has the highest incidence in the country.
People sit outside bars in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, where incidences are currently the highest in the country. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christophe Gateau

On Monday, the 7-day incidence of Covid infections per 100,000 people stood at 528, up from 515 the day before and 376 a week ago. 

Infections have been rising rapidly as the highly transmissible Omicron variant tightens its hold in Germany. Monday marked the fourth day in a row in which the country posted record incidences.

Since the first incidence of the variant was discovered in the country around seven weeks ago, Omicron has swiftly taken over as the dominant variant in Germany.

It currently accounts for around 73 percent of Covid infections and is expected to almost entirely replace the Delta variant this week. 

Though Omicron generally causes a less severe illness than Delta, experts are concerned that deaths and hospitalisations could remain high due to the unprecedented number of cases Germany could see.

Unlike Delta, Omicron has a large number of mutations that allow it to evade previously built up immunity through vaccinations and illness. 

The World Health Organisation has warned that half of all Europeans could be infected with the virus by spring. 

“After the temporary decline in case numbers, severe disease courses and deaths towards the end of 2021 in the fourth wave, the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has begun in Germany with the dominant circulation of the omicron variant,” the Robert Koch Institute wrote in its weekly report on Thursday.  

Since the first Omicron case was discovered in Germany, there have been 191,422 suspected or proven cases of the variant.

As Welt data journalist Olaf Gersemann pointed out in Twitter, the number of Omicron cases has increased sixfold within a fortnight. 

Increase in hospitalisations

Before this weekend, Germany had hit its previous peak of infections back in November, when the country posted a 7-day incidence of 485 per 100,000 people at during the peak of the fourth wave.

Since then, Covid measures such contact restrictions and blanket 2G (entry only for the vaccinated and recovered) or 2G-plus (vaccinated or recovered with a negative test) have been relatively effective at turning the tide. 

READ ALSO:

For the past few weeks however, infections have been on the up once again as the Omicron fifth wave begins.

The incidence of hospitalisations in the country appears to also be on the rise again after a few weeks of decline. On Friday, the 7-day incidence of hospitalisations stood at 3.24 per 100,000 people, up from 3.13 the day before.

Over the weekend, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warned that Omicron could place additional pressure on the general hospital wards as fewer people end up in intensive care. 

“Depending on how things develop, we may face shortages not only in the intensive care units, but also in the normal wards. There is a threat of entire departments being closed,” he said.

“Rapid spread of the virus would mean hundreds of thousands will become seriously ill and we will have to mourn many thousands of deaths again.” 

Karl Lauterbach

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) speaks at a weekly press conference on Friday, January 14th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld
 

Northern states post record incidences

Since the start of the Omicron wave, northern Germany has been disproportionately affected by the virus.

As of Monday, the city-state of Bremen had the highest incidence in the country, with 1389 new cases per 100,000 people recorded in a week.

This was followed by Berlin, which currently has a 7-day incidence of 948, and Hamburg, which recorded a 7-day incidence of 806. The district with the highest incidence in Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, which posted a weekly incidence of 1597 on Monday. 

In contrast to the fourth wave, the lowest Covid incidences were recorded in the eastern states of Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony. 

On Monday, Thuringia had a weekly incidence of 198 per 100,000 people, while Saxony’s incidence was 249 and Saxony-Anhalt’s was 280.

Somewhat inexplicably, the incidence has been declining in Thuringia in recent weeks, though there is speculation that this could be to do with the fact that Omicron has not yet spread in the state.

Nine of the sixteen German states have incidences of more than 500 per 100,000 people. 

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