France has registered the national and European records of the new coronavirus infection as Omicron variants Promoting a surge in cases across the African continent, many countries hit new highs.
France reported 208,000 cases in the past 24 hours on Wednesday, higher than the record of nearly 180,000 cases set the day before.
Health Minister Olivier Véran said: “This means that in our country, 24 hours a day, day and night, every second, two French people are diagnosed positive for the coronavirus.” We have never experienced this before,” he said, calling this growth “dazzling.”
He said that because of the Delta variant, the situation in French hospitals is already worrying. Although the “mass wave” of Omicron cases has not yet had an impact on the healthcare system, he said it will inevitably have an impact in the end.
The United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, and Greece all reported new case records this week. Europe On Tuesday, the 7-day rolling average of new cases in the United States reached a high of 267,000, of which Omicron accounted for 59%.
On Wednesday, the number of new infections in Australia rose to nearly 18,300, surpassing the high of about 11,300 a day earlier. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country needs to “shift gears.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the simultaneous spread of Delta and Omicron variants is driving an alarming wave of infections, which could lead to an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
Its director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that he is “very concerned that Omicron will spread with Delta and is causing a tsunami of cases”. The WHO stated that Omicron poses a “very high” risk and may overwhelm the health system.
Studies in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Denmark show that Omicron is not as lethal as some of its predecessors, but the large number of people who test positive means that hospitals in some countries may soon be overwhelmed, and because workers have to be isolated, companies may find it difficult to continue. Operations.
The rapid spread of new variants has forced the government to find a delicate balance between re-imposing restrictions to protect hospitals and keeping the economy and society open.
Spain reduced its Covid self-quarantine period from 10 days to 7 days. Even if the number of new infections hit a record high, companies previously expressed concern that the surge in Omicron would cause them to face increasing shortages.
exist ItalyDistrict leaders also urged the government to cancel or shorten the quarantine period for people who received three doses of the Covid vaccine and subsequently came into contact with people who tested positive. On Wednesday, the authorities reported a new record of 98,030 new cases per day.
“We can’t lock down this country by isolating contact with people who have tested positive. Covid has changed, most people are vaccinated, and we must also reconsider our response,” Giovanni Totti, President of the Liguria region (Giovanni Toti) said.
The government is also considering a proposal to tighten the “green pass” system, which requires workers in the public and private sectors to certify that they are vaccinated, recovered, or tested negative before they can enter the workplace-to exclude workers who can only show negative .
French parliamentarians began debating a new law on Wednesday that will only allow vaccinated people to enter bars, restaurants, cinemas, museums, stadiums and other public places and no longer accept negative Covid tests.