By Sudouest.fr with AFP
The report issued this Saturday, January 1 by Public Health France announces an increase in hospitalizations, while more than 219,000 positive cases have been identified in the last 24 hours
The number of hospitalizations linked to Covid-19 has increased again in the past 24 hours, with 18,811 patients in total according to figures published on Saturday by Public Health France.
New admissions, however, fell slightly with 1,102 patients in the last 24 hours, against 1,928 recorded on New Year’s Eve.
Critical care services, including resuscitation, support 3,560 people (3,543 the day before) with the most serious forms of the disease, and counted 197 new admissions between Friday and Saturday.
In 24 hours, 111 people have succumbed to Covid in hospital, bringing the total death toll to 123,851 since the start of the epidemic.
The virus continues to gallop, driven by the Omicron variant, which is particularly contagious and now predominant in France.
On Wednesday, the country had thus crossed for the first time the threshold of 200,000 contaminations in 24 hours. On Saturday, 219,126 cases were recorded (against 232,200 on Friday)
New restrictions
Faced with this “tidal wave”, the government announced new health restriction measures such as the compulsory use of teleworking in the companies concerned, the return of gauges for public events.
And wearing a mask will be compulsory from 6 years old from Monday in internal transport, as well as in places open to the public, according to a decree published on Saturday in the Official Journal.
It is still unclear to what extent this explosion of contaminations will result in serious, potentially fatal forms, overwhelming hospitals and forcing more drastic restrictions.
Friday by presenting his wishes for 2022, President Emmanuel Macron announced “difficult weeks” but “real reasons to hope thanks to the vaccine”.
Since the start of the vaccination campaign, 76.8% of French people have been fully vaccinated (i.e. 51,758,964 people), and 78.5% have received at least one injection (52,917,231 people).