(Paris) Nearly 300,000 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in France over the past 24 hours, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran announced on Tuesday, in a context still marked by the outbreak of the Omicron variant.
“Today, Public Health France risks announcing close to 300,000 contaminations over 24 hours”, a probably record level, declared Mr. Véran in front of the deputies.
The last record dates back to the end of December, with just over 230,000 new cases in one day.
These figures testify to the magnitude of the current wave of the epidemic. This has been going on since the fall and was relaunched at the end of 2021 by the arrival of the Omicron variant, considerably more contagious than its predecessors even if its severity seems limited.
The effects on the hospital are already being felt, with more than 2,000 admissions in one day, according to figures given on Monday by Public Health France.
The increase in recorded cases is partly explained by an unprecedented number of tests (PCR or antigens): eight million last week, according to Mr. Véran.
However, the epidemic surge is very real as evidenced by the jump in the “positivity rate”, ie the proportion of cases among the only people tested. It now exceeds 15%, close to its autumn 2020 records.
If the number of contaminations makes you “dizzy”, as Mr. Véran reiterated, he insisted on the protection conferred by vaccination, which remains largely effective against serious forms of COVID-19 if not against Omicron infection.
Vaccines “do not prevent contamination, but on the other hand prevent the development of the virus once it has infected you. […] and therefore serious forms, ”he insisted.
“For a patient vaccinated with a booster in intensive care, there are 20 unvaccinated patients in our intensive care units,” continued the minister, defending the health passport established by the government, which must be succeeded by a vaccination passport.
The government intended to have this new passport adopted in the Assembly on Monday evening, but in a dramatic turn, the vote was delayed by several opposition groups who obtained the suspension of debates overnight.