(Paris) COVID-19 contamination has exceeded 90,000 new cases recorded in 24 hours, a threshold never reached and an absolute record in France since the start of the epidemic in March 2020, according to figures released Thursday by Public Health France .
91,608 new cases have been recorded, under the effect of the fifth wave and while the Omicron variant is spreading in France. Over the past seven days, the average was 61,274 cases. The previous all-time high, 86,852 cases, dates back to early November 2020, at the peak of the second epidemic wave.
The government and its Scientific Council estimate that the figure should quickly exceed (by the end of December) the 100,000 new cases daily with the spread of the Omicron variant.
Pressure also continues to mount on critical care services, which have 3,208 patients against 3,147 on Tuesday, with 323 new admissions.
16,060 people are currently hospitalized against 16,118 the day before, with 1,347 new admissions.
The number of deaths since the start of the epidemic has reached 122,295, 179 more than the day before.
Since the start of the vaccination campaign in France, 52,686,872 people have received at least one injection (i.e. 78.1% of the total population) and 51,585,838 people now have a complete vaccination schedule (i.e. 76.5% of the total population).
And since the start of the booster campaign, 21,742,825 people have received an additional dose.