The Omicron variant is progressing rapidly in several departments and according to the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, it could become the majority within a fortnight in France. Overall, the Ministry of Health estimates that the new variant of Covid-19 represents 7 to 12% of the cases detected. However, according to the latest map published by CovidTracker, which compiles data from Public Health France, several areas have much higher rates such as Seine-et-Marne, Sarthe and Paris, the three most affected departments. In the capital, un third of the cases are linked to the Omicron variant. According to Guillaume Rozier, founder of CovidTracker, it is probably even becoming the majority in Île-de-France.
The high speed of propagation can also be seen among our European neighbors. In the United Kingdom and Denmark the number of infections with the Omicron variant doubles every two days, to two and a half days. The statistics are less important in France but the variant seems already weigh in the total of contaminations with more than 58,000 new Covid cases identified Friday evening December 17, a figure increasing by more than 10% compared to the previous week.
At present, however, it is a question of suspicion: the progression of the variant is based on screening, which means that we identify elements that suggest that the variant is indeed the Omicron. Sequencing, which provides a formal answer, is only used in a very small part of the cases.
However, what is emerging is a new wave within the fifth wave, with an accelerating effect, and an increased risk of contamination and therefore of congestion of services for people who are not not vaccinated or who have not received their 3rd dose. In France, it is estimated that just under six million French people have not received any dose of the vaccine against Covid-19. The chairman of the orientation council for the vaccine strategy, Alain Fischer, believes that they are today among the most serious cases treated in hospital, with immunocompromised patients and people who have not yet had their 3rd dose.
According to the latest British study on the subject, protection against Omicron drops to 30% with two doses (against 70% with the booster dose), with protection still high, at 70%, against severe forms of the disease . The danger of Omicron is a significant increase in the number of cases with an impact on people at risk when the hospital is already weakened.