French health authorities identified 501,635 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours on Tuesday, which represents a new record, while the country is suffering the brunt of a 5th meteoric epidemic wave accompanied by a surge of the Omicron variant, according to figures from the French public health agency.
In addition, 30,189 patients with Covid-19 were hospitalized, the bar of 30,000 patients admitted to hospital for a Covid-19 infection having not been reached since April 27.
In the past 24 hours, 3,842 people have been admitted to hospital with novel coronavirus infection, while 364 people have died in hospital facilities related to Covid-19 overnight.
These figures contrast with the optimism of the government, which last week mentioned a possible decline in the epidemic when it announced on January 20 new measures to ease the restrictions put in place to fight the pandemic.
Prime Minister Jean Castex had announced at a press conference that the Omicron variant was “beginning to stall” in the first regions where it had appeared. A trend which is confirmed in Île-de-France, but which is still awaited in the rest of the country.
In the same wake, Arnaud Fontanet, epidemiologist and member of the Scientific Council, an independent advisory body responsible for informing public decision-making to fight the pandemic, indicated last week that this fifth epidemic wave in France has begun to decline.
“The peak of infections has passed these days at least in Île-de-France, it will be a little later in the other regions”, he said on the airwaves of France Inter.
According to the epidemiologist at the Institut Pasteur, hospital admissions should increase in the coming days and then reach a peak in the coming week.
.
