More than 91,000 Covid cases in 24 hours: absolute record of contamination on the eve of Christmas Eve

The holidays were to offer a welcome respite to the French, they will finally take place under the threat of the Covid and the new Omicron variant which is sweeping through Europe and the United States. On Christmas Eve, the country records a record of contaminations with more than 90,000 cases recorded in 24 hours.

A first since the start of the epidemic, the previous record being reached during the peak of the second wave, in November 2020, with 86,562 cases. This time, it is precisely 91,608 cases that were confirmed on December 23 and an average of more than 61,000 cases over the last seven days.

Faced with the threat of the Omicron variant and in view of the Christmas holidays, the French went massively to be tested. Last week over 6.2 million tests were performed. Queues in front of pharmacies and laboratories could be observed all over France and the demand for self-tests is strong.

The use of the test was also encouraged by President Emmanuel Macron, who posted recommendations on Instagram and TikTok ahead of family reunions at the end of the year. “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”, he wrote on Twitter in particular.

However, the fifth wave is also swelling in hospitals. 16,060 Covid patients are currently hospitalized. 3,208 of them are in critical care, against 3,147 the day before. The toll since the start of the epidemic is now approaching 123,000 dead.

Far from a peak, contamination could also increase. “We will very likely exceed 100,000 contaminations per day by the end of the month”, or even before, estimated the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, stressing the presence of more important of the Omicron variant.

If the majority of patients are still affected by the Delta variant, scientists and the government believe that the last variant, already in the majority in Ile-de-France, will quickly reach the entire territory. Experts are already worried about the potential repercussions, especially on certain sectors of the economy.