an encouraging drop in numbers

In recent days, several indicators point to the end of the fifth wave of Covid-19, as announced by the Pasteur Institute. “On average over seven days we have 280,000 new cases. A figure which remains very high but the curve is starting to drop slightly compared to the 297,000 cases last week”, explains Thibault Franceschet, since writing 23h de franceinfo.

A first significant drop in a month, especially in Ile-de-France where the Omicron variant had started its strong rise, but epidemiologists believe that other regions should follow. “At the hospital, on the other hand, the number of people continues to increase with more than 25,000 people hospitalized.”

“The Pasteur Institute estimates that the peak should be reached at the end of January and this would confirm one of the most optimistic scenarios”, he explains. On the resuscitation side, the figures are more encouraging. “There are 3,900 people in intensive care, with a peak of 3,985 a few days ago. Which is rather stable compared to previous weeks”, emphasizes Thibault Franceschet. “Over the past two years, we have experienced five successive waves of Covid-19, in April 2020, in October, last winter, this summer and the current Omicron wave. It remains to be seen whether this wave which is beginning to decrease will be the last or if we can expect any news in the coming months”, he concludes.