Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the number of contaminations has never reached such a peak. Thus, no less than 91,600 new cases of Covid-19 have been identified in the past 24 hours. This is in part due to the arrival of Omicron, a new variant from South Africa.
The end-of-year celebrations, expected by the French as a welcome respite after almost two years of a pandemic which has disrupted social, personal and professional life, will therefore finally take place under this new threat. It has sparked a rush on testing and worries at the highest level for the very functioning of the country.
For the first time since the start of the epidemic in March 2020, the threshold of 90,000 daily cases has been crossed, with 91,608 confirmed cases and an average of more than 61,000 cases over the last seven days. The previous record, 86,852 cases, went back to early November 2020, at the peak of the second wave.
In the hope of avoiding contamination with the much more contagious Omicron, the number of tests carried out last week also reached a record, with more than 6.2 million.
Emmanuel Macron also encouraged this precaution, posting a video on TikTok, a network very popular with young people, and a message on Twitter: “Happy Holidays to all! To those who will have the joy of getting together with their family for Christmas: barrier gestures, a preventive test to reassure, and in the event of a symptom, we isolate ourselves, we alert. To those mobilized to treat and protect us: thank you. Let’s take care of each other ”.