France: The Omicron mutation is responsible for most of the new cases

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is now the predominant among new cases in France, where coronavirus cases are “significantly rising” in recent days, as announced by the country’s public health service.

“62.4% of diagnostic tests performed show a profile compatible with the Omicron variant” at the beginning of the last week of the year, as opposed to 15% last week, the public service reported in the last weekly her report published last night.

This increase in Omicron cases was expected as this variant is highly contagious and was already responsible for the majority of cases in other European countries such as the United Kingdom and Portugal.

Omicron contributed to the increase in cases that on Wednesday and Thursday exceeded the barrier of 200,000 per day.

A total of 18,321 patients with Covid are being treated in the country’s hospitals, of which 1,922 were admitted from Wednesday to Thursday and more than 3,500 patients are in critical condition.

Given the epidemiological situation, the government announced on Monday new restrictive measures to stem the pandemic, such as the mandatory return to telework for businesses affected or the return of measures related to public events.

The pandemic has caused a total of 123,552 deaths in France.

Source: AMPE